Lily Evans and the Marauders
by kckfchicks
Summary: This is a tale of Lily and the Muraders in their sixth year at Hogwarts... sheer maddness! FINISHED! R&R!
1. Just Lily

Disclaimer: Okay, obviously, I don't own Harry Potter or his affiliates no matter how much I WISH I did. However, I do own Steve the Rubber Duck (regardless of what you hear) and the plot, of course. So if I catch wind of anyone using my stuff, trust me, HEADS WILL ROLL… you have been warned. ©, do you hear? ©!!

Oh, and PS: I wrote this looong before the Order came out, and was just really hesitant to post it, so some of the stuff you read in here won't quite fit with the fifth book, or some of the things in the fourth. Gimme a break, geeze… But other than that, read, enjoy, and REVIEW (nicely! Ha!)!!

Lily Evans and the Marauders

Year 6__

****

Chapter 1 Just Lily 

Lily Evans awoke with a start on a crisp June morning. She rolled out of bed, feeling for her alarm clock. She stood up, and yawned loudly. As she crossed to her closet, she glanced in the mirror. A fair girl of 11 with flaming red hair and emerald eyes gazed sleepily back at her.

Pulling a sweater on over her clothes, she marched down the steps, and entered the kitchen.

"Get the mail." Her sister, Petunia snapped. She was pouring orange juice into cups and placing them on the table. 

"What's all this?" Lily asked, looking at the elaborate breakfast on the table.

"I'm trying to butter up mum and dad." Petunia snapped. "I have to get that designer bag for school. All the girls have them…"

"But holiday just started!" Lily laughed.

"Get the mail, freak!" Petunia shouted.

"Okay, okay. I'm going." Lily said grumpily, walking out into the hall. She bent down and picked up the assortment of letters strewn on the floor. "Bill… bill… Aunt Martha… what's this?" She muttered to herself. 

In her hands was a yellowish envelope. It was addressed to "Lily Evans" in swoopy purple writing. On the back, there was an odd crest she had never seen before. There were four animals surrounding a magnificent H. Lily returned to the kitchen, turning the letter over in her hands. 

"Morning, girls!" Lily's father, Mark, said. He strode proudly into the room with the newspaper under his arm.

"Hello, daddy!" Petunia squealed. "I made you and mother breakfast!" 

"That's very sweet of you, dear. But I'm afraid we won't have time; we have to be in the office by 9:00." Her father replied.

"Hello!" Lily's mother, Mary, said as she bustled into the room with makeup in her arms.

Lily, however, was paying no attention to this business that was her every morning. She was still entranced by the letter from No-one. She was almost afraid to open it.

"LILY!" Petunia shouted. "Mum says I have to take you to Mrs. Kent's." Mrs. Kent was the insane lady down the street who usually watched over Lily while her parents were at work. They were both insurance salespeople, and were very busy. Petunia never had to watch Lily, probably because she was favored a little.

"I have a letter." Lily told her parents.

"So open it. Who cares? It's probably a mistake anyway. No one would _want _write to you." Petunia snapped. She always hated it when Lily got even the tiniest bit of attention.

"Go ahead. Open it. We have to get going." Her mother said. Lily did as she was told. But was shocked by what she saw.

"What does it say?" Petunia asked.

"I'm a witch." Lily said breathlessly.

"We knew _that_. What does it say?" Her sister replied rudely.

"It says I'm a _witch._" Lily said stubbornly. Her parents looked at her in shock. "It says I've been excepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She added meekly.

"Excuse me, a what?"

"A witch. It says I'm a witch. Headmaster Dippet wants me to attend his witchcraft and wizardry school in the fall." Lily replied.

"Baby! I'm so proud of you!" Mary Evans shouted. She scooped Lily up into a huge hug.

"Hogwarts! Wow!" Mark replied. "Lily, this is amazing! Our little girl! A witch! A _witch!"_ He boasted. And only Petunia didn't join in the happiness that followed.

Five years later, Lily walked down the same steps and into the same kitchen. She had now been attending Hogwarts School for five years and was going into her sixth. 

"Morning, Petunia." Lily said as she sat down at the table to drink her juice. 

"Hi." Petunia snapped. "Fix me these pancakes. I don't want to get the batter on my _engagement ring._" Petunia boasted. She had been engaged to her boyfriend, Vernon Dursley for a whole four days, ten hours, and about thirteen seconds. Petunia never let Lily forget this. 

"And _Vernon__'s_ coming over later… so this house had better be spotless, you slug scum." She replied.

"I won't be here, genius." Lily snapped. "I'm going over to Arabella Figg's house, remember?" 

"Like I care." Petunia rolled her eyes. "I'm not driving you anywhere, so you're freakish _witch_ friend can come pick _you_ up."

"Whatever. She was going to anyway." Lily said, picking up the paper, and glancing through the articles. 

Later that afternoon, Lily heard a loud, sharp honk coming from the driveway. She knew at once that it was her best friend Arabella. She grabbed her trunk of Howarts things and her pet cat, Adrienne.

"Belle!" Lily shouted when she saw her friend's face. Lily loved everything about Belle- from the thick, curly, black hair to the strong attitude.

"Hey Lil! I missed you!" Arabella replied, giving Lily a tight hug. "Here, let me help you." She said, grabbing Adrienne's cage and placing it in the trunk.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Figg." Lily said to Belle's father. 

"It's nice to see you again Lily. Have a nice holiday?" Mr. Figg asked.

"Oh yes." Lily said politely. "How was France?" She asked Belle. "I'm so jelous!"

"It was great! I actually ate _slugs!_ I'm not even joking! Dad ate them too. I saw the Eiffel Tower… and we went to _tons_ of museums. And the concert! Wow! There was this one lady who could play the flute almost as well as you!" Bella gushed happily.

"It sounds amazing! I wish I could have gone with you!" Lily said. 

"I brought you back some food…" Belle said, unzipping her bag and handing Lily some round, white cakes. "They're to die for. Flip-Flop-Frosties, they're called." 

"Hmm. Sounds good." Lily said, placing in her bag for later.

"They're really good." Belle said. "All the rage in France."

When their car finally reached The Leaky Cauldron in London, Lily and Belle were very stiff. They hopped out of the car, and stretched.

"Well, girls, let's go." Mr. Figg said, leading the way inside the crowded pub. They walked through a door, and Mr. Figg waved at the innkeeper, Tom. Mr. Figg led them into a small, dead-end alleyway, then brandished his wand and tapped the brick three up from the trash can. Suddenly, the wall in front of them deteriorated as Lily had seen it do many times. Standing before them was an archway leading to a long, wide, alley. _Diagon_ Alley. This was the place all witches and wizards did their school shopping. Lily pulled her school list out of her pocket, and she followed Belle into the hurrying crowd. 

"I need more parchment… and school books." Belle replied looking over her list. "Dad? Why don't we meet up with you later in the ice cream shop?"

"Sure thing. See you girls later." Mr. Figg said. Walking off towards the Quidditch shop.

Quidditch was the only wizard sport- and in Lily's opinion, the only sport worth watching. It was played high in the sky on broomsticks. There were seven players to a team and four balls. The three Chasers and the one Keeper played with a soccer ball sized ball called the Quaffle. The Keeper tried to keep the other team from scoring the Quaffle through his three hoops. The Chasers tried to get the Quaffle through the other team's hoops. Each goal was worth 10 points. The two Beaters played with two balls called the Bludgers. Bludgers had a mind of their own and tried to hit any player they could. The Beaters had to make sure they didn't hurt their players. The Seeker was the most important position of all. They played with the Golden Snitch. The Snitch was small and fast and impossible to catch. But if it was impossible, that couldn't stop the Seekers- it was their job to catch the Snitch and end the game, and give their team an extra 150 points for doing so.

At Hogwarts, there was a House Quidditch Championship. There were four Houses at Hogwarts to play against: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw.

"Let's get our books." Belle suggested. Lily nodded and followed her into Flourish and Blotts. Inside were many rows of books on anything and everything. Lily pushed her hair out of her face as she walked down the aisles trying to find _Standard Book of Spells: Grade 6._

When she and Belle had found all their books, they purchased them and headed to the robe shop; both the girls needed new Hogwarts uniforms.

"'Ello, dears. And how can I 'elp you?" A plump Scottish woman asked. 

"We need to be fitted for new robes, please." Lily said.

"Certainly! I've got another lad being fitted right now. Come on back…" She said, leading the girls to small platforms. 

There, being measured was none other than James Potter. He was in the Gryffindor house, and in his sixth year, just like Arabella and Lily. James had deep blue eyes and jet-black hair that stuck up in odd places. He wore glasses, and was the star Seeker on the Gryffindor House Quidditch team. 

As usual, James wasn't far from his three best friends. Sirius Black was sitting in a large chair. Sirius was something of a ladies-man at school. He had short black hair and chocolate brown eyes. 

Reamus Lupin was sitting next to him in another squashy armchair. Reamus had sandy blonde hair, and gray eyes. But his eyes were nothing like Arabella's gray eyes, these were coal grey- deep and mysterious. Although he was rather shy, he was always polite and quite a gentleman. 

Lily had no real idea why Peter Petigrew was allowed to hang out with these popular boys, but he did. Peter was short, and pudgy- not at all muscular like James and Sirius. He had mouse-brown hair that was folded delicately over his head. 

Belle giggled silently as she spotted the boys. She leaned over and placed her bags down.

"They're so cute!" She whispered to Lily. She snorted. 

"Please! They have serious ego problems." Lily laughed quietly.

"Why hello, ladies!" Sirius Black replied.

"Leave us alone, please." Lily said in a final sort of tone. She did not especially want to associate with these boys. Everyone at Hogwarts knew they were troublemakers and pranksters. 

"Hmm… trying to resist the Black Magic, I see…" He joked, causing the three boys to laugh.

"And everyone knows just how _difficult_ that is, Si!" James shouted sarcastically back.

"Yeah, whatever, James. You know you want a piece of this!" Sirius said happily. Then he turned back to Remus. "So anyway, like I was saying, Remus…" 

"All righ', dears." The shopkeeper said, directing them onto a platform. "I'll just get your measurements…" She pointed her wand at a tape measure that leaped into action, measuring every place necessary.

"And, Mr. Potter, your robes." She said, handing James his new uniform. "Have a good term dear." Sirius whispered something to James that caused him to break out laughing.

When Lily and Belle were finished, they headed to the ice cream shop to meet Mr. Figg. He was there waiting, licking cheerfully on an ice cream cone.

"Ah! There you girls are!" He said when he saw them. "All finished? Fantastic." He led them out of the store, and through the busy market. 

As they walked towards the archway, Lily saw James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter again. Remus watched them pass, and then turned back to their conversation. 

"Oh my God, Lil!" Belle giggled. "He was so checking us out!" 

"No way… he probably saw his reflection in a window or something." Lily said, laughing. "You know him… star Quidditch player and it goes right to his head."

"Two of them play Quidditch. Not just James." Belle corrected. "Sirius too."

"Oh, right." Lily said. "He plays… Keeper?"

"No, Beater, Lily! _Beater_!" 

"Oh, I'm sorry." Lily laughed. "You sure do know a lot about him… are you sure you don't fancy him?"

"Sirius? No way!" Belle replied. But Lily just laughed. She always felt complete when she was with Belle, she was her other half. She was the half with the good parents, good life, and _no_ siblings.


	2. The Hogwarts Express

_Hey people! I thought that now would be a good time to post again. It's funny: I never really realized why authors here always beg for reviews, but I finally understand. Sure, it's great to hear what people think about your story, but really, it's just nice to know that people are actually looking at your story! Because I don't even know if people are reading it! AH! But since I got…*cough* one review, I thought I would update—even if it's just for that one person's reading pleasure. (Thanks, by the way, Cheri111! That was really sweet of you to review and I appreciate it!) So even if you don't have anything to say about the story itself, I would LOVE it if you could write something… anything, really. Just tell me how your day went, what you had for breakfast (I had an omelet) and I love knock-knock jokes! Anyway, enough blabbering! On with the story!_****

**Chapter 2**

**Hogwarts Express**

   After another week of shopping in Diagon Alley, it was time to return to Hogwarts. Even though she was going back to school, Lily was very excited. She missed the enchanted halls and the trick staircases; the magical ceiling in the Grand Hall, and the cozy Gryffindor common room; the festive Halloweens and the snowcapped Christmases; she couldn't wait to arrive.

Mr. and Mrs. Figg dropped the girls off at Kings Cross Station where the school train would depart from. They got two carts and piled their school trunks on them. Adrienne meowed angrily as Lily pushed her cart quickly towards platforms nine and ten. 

The Hogwarts Express left from platform nine-and-three-quarters, but it wasn't difficult to get there. All you had to do was walk through the barriers between platforms nine and ten. So Lily and Belle leaned against the cold, stone barrier, and slid straight through.

The large, scarlet Hogwarts train loomed up before them. They excitedly dumped their things in a compartment, and then reappeared on the platform to track down some of their other friends. 

They passed their friend Amos Diggory who was in the seventh year, whose parents were badgering him about his owl, which was twittering madly. 

Then they saw James Potter again. His parents were hugging him and his mother was sobbing. Lily couldn't help but overhear some of the things they were saying.

"Oh, James! We'll miss you! And we're so proud!" his mother moaned.

"Mum!" He groaned as his mother hugged him again.

"Oh, James, life at home will be rather quiet without you around… we'll miss you, son." His father said proudly, clapping James on the shoulder.

Lily couldn't help but wish _her_ parents would say things like that. How could James act like he hated it? She would give anything to be loved like that.

The only time she could ever remember her parents saying they were proud was when she first received her Hogwarts letter. They had given her a silver locket that day, and she wore always. Petunia had always gotten the glory since she was born first. It just wasn't fair.

"Lil, there's Madison!" Belle said, jerking Lily out of her thoughts. Belle pointed to their friend, Madison. She had shoulder length blonde hair, and warm green eyes like Lily's. Madison rushed over to Belle and Lily.

"Lily! Belle!" Their friend Madison Gregory called. "It's so good to see you!"

"Madison! We missed you in Diagon Alley." Lily said, hugging her friend tightly. 

"Yeah, sorry I missed that. But you know my parents…" Madison shrugged. "Here they come now… brace yourself…"

"Ah! Ms. Evans and Ms. Figg. It's too bad we didn't see you this summer." Mr. Gregory replied dully.

"But we simply _had_ to stay that extra week in America. Such a lovely country, you know." Mrs. Gregory sighed. "Well, my dear, we will see you at Christmas, hm? Ta ta!"

"Goodbye mummy! I love you!" Madison said. "Toodles, daddy!" She replied, kissing her parents. Lily always felt that Madison never was very genuine. When her parents were out of earshot, she continued.

"Boring old fools, aren't they?" She sighed. 

"I think your trip sounded great. Someday, I'm going to travel the world…" Lily sighed. "Just like the two of you… but I'll go further than France and America."

"You and your imagination, Lil." Madison sighed. "But, my God! Have you seen Sirius Black? He's grown some over the summer, he has."

"Black?" Lily replied, giving a meaningful look to Belle. "Please."

"Suit yourself. He's got quite a little fan club now… look." She said, pointing towards Reamus, Sirius, and James. There were at least seven girls flocking around them, giggling and playing with their hair. 

"And look at Peter!" Belle laughed. Peter Petigrew was standing off to the side a little, surveying the scene with disgust and jealousy. 

"I don't really know why they let him hang around them, do you?" Lily asked.

"Just because he gets them out of trouble." Madison laughed. "I hear they've decided to call themselves the Marauders now."

"The Marauders? They decided that more than two years ago, you prat!" Belle said, laughing at Madison.

"Yes, but now it's official." Madison defended. "My father says we've got a new Headmaster this year. Do you know who he is?"

"I think its Albus Dumbledore." Lily replied. "I read it in the _Daily Prophet."_ She said, recalling the article in the wizard newspaper.

"Dumbledore? I hear he's very intelligent!" Belle replied.

"Who cares? I hope he's not as loony as the last one." Madison said coolly.

"You mean Professor Dippet?"

"Yeah. He was crazy." Madison said. "We'd better get on the train. Did you find us seats?"

"Yeah." Lily said. She led the way through the train towards the back. But when they arrived in their compartment, they found two Slytherins sitting there.

"Can we help you?" One with blonde hair plastered to his head replied.

"Er… this is our compartment. See the bags?" Belle said, pointing to their things.

"So sorry. I'm Lucius Malfoy, by the way. Slytherin, sixth year." He said. "And this is my good friend Siverus Snape. Also Slytherin."

"Pleasure. Could you leave?" Belle snapped.

"Only if you tell us who you are." Siverus said softly, but coldly.

"Belle Figg, Madison Gregory, and Lily Evans. Now get your butts out. We haven't seen each other all summer and have quite a bit of catching up to do… so scoot!" Belle snapped. Lily and Madison both knew you did not make Belle say the same thing more than three times, or you were in trouble.

"Belle Figg… wait, you aren't _Arabella_ Figg are you? My God! Siverus, this is the one I was telling you about! Her father works for the Ministry… the _Muggle Protection_ Department!" Lucius laughed.

"Shut the hell up and get out of our car." Belle snapped. "And I swear, if you _ever_ call me Arabella, you will be in so much pain-"

"Is there a problem here?" 

Lily spun around to see James, Remus, Peter and Sirius standing in the hallway, looking at Lucius and Siverus.

"James, it's the two slime balls." Remus replied, nodding towards Lucius and Siverus. "You ladies don't want to go talking to them." He said to Belle. 

"We can handle this ourselves, thanks." Belle snapped. "Get your fat asses out of our car before I hex you." She said hotly to Lucius.

"Manners, manners, Arabella." Lucius said. But he picked up his bag and left the compartment with Siverus on his heels.

"Woman after my own heart, there boys." Sirius replied, watching Belle with interest. But then Belle rounded on him.

"And you too!" She shouted. "OUT!" 

"Jesus! Cool your jets!" Sirius sighed. And as they left, Lily heard Sirius say "_Get out_!" followed by laughter. Lily sighed. 

"Boys." Belle muttered. "Fat lot of greasy fools." 

The train clacked along the track, zooming past the countryside and forest. Lily, Madison, and Belle talked and laughed as they sped closer and closer towards the school. Rain began to patter on the windows and the further they went the heavier it fell.

When the train pulled into the Hogsmeade station, the rain was pouring down from the sky in ice-cold buckets. Lily reluctantly left the train and dashed to the horse-less buggies that would take them to the school. She hopped inside, and Madison slammed the door.

"Whew! It's really comin' down!" She replied, glancing out the window at the lightning that forked across the sky. She patted her hair nervously.

"Your hair looks fine, Madison." Lily replied. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm not." Madison said. "You just never know…"

Their buggy pulled up to Hogwarts School. The school looked bright and cheery, even in this horrible weather. The hundreds of windows were glittering, suggesting that fires were crackling merrily inside. Lily, Madison and Belle leaped out of the coach and scampered through the heavy double doors. They were soaking wet, even after only being outside a few seconds.

Just after them, the Marauders came strolling inside proudly. Lily rolled her eyes as a group of girls- their grades ranging- towards them. One girl rudely pushed passed Madison to get to Sirius' side. 

"What can we say? We are _SO_ God's gift to women!" Sirius laughed. 

"Oh, Sirius!" A blonde girl giggled, slapping his hand playfully. "You're so silly!"

Lily and her friends left this disturbing scene and walked into the Grand Hall, wringing water out of their hair. Lily pulled her Hogwarts robe closer to her, trying to keep warm. But the moment she stepped into the Hall, her breath was taken away.

The four house tables were covered in deep purple cloths, and candles were flickering above them, floating in midair. The teachers' table had a huge banner behind it, bearing the Hogwarts crest: a lion, a raven, a snake, and a badger surrounding a large H. The enchanted ceiling that mirrored the real sky was stormy and clouded.

Lily led Madison and Belle to the Gryffindor table, and went to sit in a chair. But suddenly, the chair was zapped out from beneath her and she fell flat to the floor. She looked up angrily, and saw James and his posse. 

He was smiling and laughing, and his wand twirling in his fingers. Lily knew he had made the chair disappear. She glared at him, and pulled the chair back under her. Madison was stifling laughter. 

"You'd better not be laughing." Lily snapped quietly. 

"I… I'm not." Madison replied, forcing a frown. "It wasn't funny at all."

"Hey, aren't they announcing the school Prefects tonight?" Belle asked. 

"Yeah… I wonder if I'll make it?" Lily replied. Being a Prefect was the second highest honor at Hogwarts. A boy and a girl from each house were chosen to represent their house in all school functions and they were expected to be role models for all students. 

When all the people were seated at their tables, the new first years entered the room looking fearful. Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, led them to the head table and placed a three-legged stool and a shabby hat before the crowd. McGonagall was a strict woman, with brown hair pulled tightly into a bun at the base of her neck. She wore long emerald robes and a large hat. She was the head of the Gryffindor house, but showed them no mercy whatsoever. 

"When I call your name, put on the hat, and walk to your new House table." She said. "Adervy, Harold." She replied and Harold Adervy approached the stool, quivering slightly.

Then, a tear by the brim of the hat opened wide and shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!" And Harold walked to his table.

Lily turned to Belle as "Charlotte Barney" became a "RAVENCLAW!" 

"Who do you think will make Prefect?" She asked nervously.

"Don't worry about it! You're top of our class, you're sure to make it." Belle assured as "Frank Dutch" became a "GRYFFINDOR!" Lily applauded mildly as Frank came to sit at their table.

When the sorting finished with "Katie Weatherby" becoming a "SLYTHERIN!" Lily sat up tall in her chair, awaiting the announcement of Prefects.

"Hello students!" A tall man with a long silver beard and a crooked nose replied. "My name is Albus Dumbldore… but I think the school officials would prefer you called me Professor Dumbldore. I am the new headmaster here, seeing as Professor Dippet resigned last year. But I am pleased to take over his place and I hope I can fill his shoes. Now what you've all be waiting for: the announcement of this year's Prefects." 

He waited a moment before continuing. Lily prayed silently. Maybe her parents would find _this_ worthy of praise.

"For Hufflepuff: Jonathan Lionel and Cindy Ashonal." Dumbledore replied. Hufflepuff exploded with applause and Jonathan and Cindy walked up to the teacher's table to get their badges. They sat down at a special table for the Prefects that was set up for that one night. 

"For Slytherin: Lucius Malfoy and Haley Parkinson." Slytherin clapped as their representatives accepted their badges happily and they too took seats at the table.

"For Ravenclaw: Brad Marcus and Stephanie Brooke." Their table cheered and whooped. Lily held her breath and Dumbledore smiled.

"Gryffindor: James Potter and Lily Evans!" Lily let out a huge sigh of relief, and she stood up to get her badge. She heard her table shouting and clapping. The muraders were screaming out James' name over and over in support.

James nearly snorted with laughter when he saw who "Lily Evans" was. Lily assumed he was reliving the joke with her chair. 

"Thank you, Professor." Lily said as McGonagall pinned the badge onto Lily's uniform. 

"Now I expect you two to be the essence of goodness this year… do you understand? James!" She said quickly in an undertone. James turned to look at her after waving to a Gryffindor.

"Yeah… okay." He said in understanding. Lily rolled her eyes. Why was _he_ picked? He didn't care either way. Lily took her place at the table next to him. She thanked God that this was only for this one night; she wouldn't be able to stand eating by him _every _night. 

"Congratulations! And now… we feast!" Dumbledore shouted and food sprouted up on the table. 

Every kind of food imaginable was there: pudding, chicken, beef, steak, pastries, rolls, pea soup, pasta, sauces, jellies, fruits, vegetables, and ice cold pumpkin juice were only a few of the options.

"I'm starving!" James replied. Lily wasn't sure if he was talking to himself, or her, but she didn't respond. She did, however, pile the delicious food on her plate.

When that course was finished, dessert sprung up. Cakes and ice cream, cookies, candy, and every kind of pie you could think of. Lily sampled the fudge cake and fell in love with it.

When dinner was done, the plate's crumbs and stains disappeared, and they were sparkling gold again. Dumbledore motioned for the Prefects to come over.

"Speak to your Head of House for your password, then lead the first years to your house." He instructed. 

Lily and James led the fed first years through the halls, up stairs, around corners, and up to the seventh floor. When they reached the Fat Lady portrait, Lily spoke the password, and it swung open. 

"All right, everyone gather around." Lily said. "Okay, up the stairs to your left is the boys' dormitories, and the girls' is the same on your right. It is absolutely prohibited for people of the opposite gender to enter the others' dormitory-"

"Yeah, boys. So don't get any ideas!" James scolded. A few students chuckled. 

"Anyway…" Lily said, throwing James a meaningful look. "You can find maps of the school by the door, and you are never allowed to go into the Forbidden Forest on grounds."

"Unless you want to die a painful death, of course." James interrupted. More kids laughed.

"So, go off to bed, I guess. James and I are here to answer any of your questions if you have them. Good luck at Hogwarts!" Lily said. As the students filtered away, she rounded on James.

"Look, you may think this is just another way to get noticed, but I for one, take this very seriously. I've worked hard to get here. So don't think that being the Gryffindor Seeker will help you now." She snapped.

"Ouch." James replied. "You're not the only one who worked hard last year, you know. I've worked my ass off to get this far. I plan on being Head Boy. My parents don't expect anything less than a star athlete, grade A, son. I've given that to them so far, and no little geeky, flame-headed, wanna-be is going to stop me now." 

He turned quickly and hopped up the boys' dormitory steps. Lily glared after him. Wanna-be? Geeky? Flame-headed? _Lily Evans_? First the chair prank, now this. If he thought he could escape this time, he was dreaming. 


	3. Sweet Revenge & A Little Raincloud

_Hey readers! I decided to speed things up and post the third and fourth chapter today, so I can hopefully move on to year seven soon (it's already written). But anyway! You know the drill, read and review!_

**Chapter 3**

**Sweet Revenge**

The next morning, Belle, Madison, and Lily prepared themselves for class. Lily brushed out her long, red hair and smiled. That night while lying in bed, she had come up with the perfect way to get back at James. It wasn't too harsh, but good enough.

"What's our classes for today?" Belle asked.

"Potions and Charms this morning, then I have Muggle Music, and Transfiguration." Lily replied.

"Hm. Not too bad." Madison said. "I just hope Professor Trelawny stops picking on James this year. She was constantly saying he would die last year!" She exclaimed.

"I don't see why you care." Lily said. "James is an arrogant prat."

"Whatever. I think he's cute." Madison replied, leading the way down the dormitory steps. When Lily spotted James and the muraders dashing down the boys' steps, Lily pulled James aside.

"Look, James." She began. "I wanted to apologize for last night. We're both hard-working, and we both deserved this." Lily pointed her wand at him, and whispered an incantation under her breath.

"It's all right." James said shortly, then walked away. Lily smiled, shaking her head. 

Lily, Madison, and Belle followed the muraders down to the dungeons for Potions. A few people pointed and laughed at James, but he didn't seem to notice. When Amos Diggory spotted James, he outright pointed to James' chest and laughed. James only gave him a puzzled look and continued walking.

"Oh, James! Always the jokester!" A brunette replied as she walked past. Then James whirled around and looked at Sirius.

"What the Hell? Why are people laughing at me? What did I do?!" He shouted. Then he added in an undertone, "I don't have anything hanging out of my nose, do I?" 

"No, no!" Remus said, chuckling. But then he pointed to James' Prefect badge. But instead of reading "Prefect" it said "Pinhead".

"I can't believe you _this_ long to notice, James." Lily scoffed. James turned to look at her. "I mean to say, you're always checking yourself out in the mirror. You'd think you would have seen it."

"_You? You_ did this?" James replied. "Well, change it back!" Belle laughed.

"I think I'll leave it the way it is, thanks." Lily said, pushing past him and the muraders. "You'd better not mess with me, Potter." She added over her shoulder.

When they were out of earshot, Madison replied, "Brilliant. Simply brilliant." 

They entered the Potions classroom, and were greeted by none other than the Slytherin students. Professor Walter was leaning against his desk, skimming through a book. Walter was a tall man, about forty years old. He was balding slightly, but he covered his head with a large hat. His sweeping red robes dangled around his feet.

"Good morning, girls. Please take a seat." He said, motioning toward the two person workbenches. Madison and Belle scurried to a table, leaving Lily seat-less. 

"You could sit here…" Siverus Snape replied shyly. 

"Er… okay." Lily said, placing her bag on the desk. "Thanks." 

When the rest of the class was seated in the cold, drafty dungeon, Professor Walter gathered their attention.

"Okay everyone. I know it's the first day back, but I'd like you all to start thinking about an original Potions recipe. We will be getting into partners and creating these recipes as a project. In the end, I will grade you on the originality and, of course, correctness. In fact, why don't we get started now…" Snape turned to Lily automatically.

"Partners?" He asked. Lily cast a glance at Madison and Belle.

"Um, all right." She shrugged. "What potion do you want to do?"

"What about the Truth Potion? That's very interesting. You know, the Truth Draught?"

"Okay. I don't know the recipe, but we'll find it somewhere." Lily said, smiling awkwardly. Snape blushed bright red and turned away.

After Charms with Professor Flitwick, was lunch break. It sped by far too fast for Lily, and soon she was hauling her flute to the Muggle Music classroom. She walked up to the fifth floor, and opened the door. The sweet smell of vanilla reached her nose. The room had about twenty stools and music stands in five semi-circles surrounding a conductor's stand. The carpets were a rich purple and the walls were decked in green fabrics.

Lily took a seat and unpacked her flute. Other familiar students filed in with an assortment of instruments. Lily's friend Dana took a seat next to her and put together her clarinet.

"Hey." Dana replied. "Where's Professor Radcliffe?"

"I don't know." Lily shrugged. But as she spoke a tall, dark haired young man strode into the room. He wore glasses and had smoky blue eyes. Many girls at Hogwarts thought this teacher was incredibly handsome, and Lily couldn't disagree.

When all the students were unpacked and ready to play, Professor Radcliffe stood up on the platform. "Let's play the Hogwarts school song, shall we? It's a good warm up." So Lily brought the flute to her lips and played. She loved her instrument; it always soothed her heart. Lots of her friends said she was amazing at it, but she didn't think so. She just liked playing.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and James was standing there.

"Lily Evans is needed for a Prefect meeting." He said, holding the door open. A few people waved to him, and he smiled back.

"Well, Lily. What are you waiting for?" Radcliffe said. Lily quickly packed up and left the room.

"What's the meeting for?" She asked James.

"How should I know? I'm a 'pinhead'." He said shortly. He walked fast, and didn't say anything more. 

When they reached the Great Hall, McGonagall and all the other Prefects were seated at a House table, facing each other.

"Ah! There you are!" McGonagall sighed. "Now we can begin. Since Professor Dumbldore is our new headmaster, I thought it would be nice for us to hold a ball of some kind in his honor. I thought you all could plan it. What do you think?"

"Sounds great! But what theme should we have?" Stephanie Brooke from Ravenclaw asked.

"A luau?" Jonathan Lionel of Hufflepuff suggested. McGonagall scribbled down the idea.

"No… what about a costume ball?" Cindy Ashonal replied. McGonagall nodded and wrote it down.

"A Masquerade." James muttered.

"What's that, Potter?" McGonagall asked.

"A Masquerade. You know, a masked ball?" James said. Some Prefects nodded their heads. Lucius Malfoy stood up.

"That's stupid. How can we ensure everyone will wear a mask? _I_ wouldn't want to wear a mask to a ball!" He said forcefully.

"I think it's a great idea." Haley Parkinson said. "We could hand out masks as they arrive… or sooner." 

"Yeah…" Cindy said. "I like that idea."

"We could decorate the Great Hall too." Lily suggested.

"But of course!" McGonagall said, jotting down the ideas quickly. "And when should we hold it?"

"Over Christmas?"

"Halloween!"

"Valentines Day?"

"We could make it a surprise." Lily said.

"That's great! We'll tell everyone to dress up, and not tell them why! Then, they'll come down to the Great Hall, and it will be decorated. We'll give them masks as they arrive, and then the ball will begin!" Jonathan exclaimed happily.

"Perfect! Perfect!" McGonagall said, writing this down at the speed of light. "Wonderful ideas! All of you!" She cheered. "Oh my, you'd best get back to class. Your teachers will have a field day!" She said, shooing them out of the room.

James ran off quickly, but was not heading towards Divination. Lily wondered where he could be going, if not to his elective class.

**Chapter 4**

**A Little Rain Cloud**

The next morning at breakfast, Lily sat down at the table and applied herself to her scrambled eggs. Madison had come down with her, but was complaining about the weather. It was still raining steadily and the enchanted ceiling was covered with thick, gray clouds pouring buckets of rain. Lily thought unhappily about Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology- both taking place outside that morning.

James and Sirius walked boastfully into the Grand Hall carrying buckets and shampoo bottles. Many confused students watched them cross the hall to the Slytherin table. They proceeded to dump the buckets of ice cold water on Siverus' and Lucius' hair. Lucius was infuriated.

"What are you playing at?!" He shouted. But Sirius paid him no mind, and squirted a fair amount of shampoo on Lucius' head.

"We decided we'd wash your hair for you, since you never do." James said calmly. Siverus stood up slapping James' hands away. 

"We're doing you a favor, boys!" Sirius said. "I mean, it must be embarrassing walking around school with greasy hair!"

"How DARE you!" Lucius shouted, whipping out his wand. James and Sirius took a step back and pulled out their own wands. James grinned as though this was what he was hoping for. Students around the hall were watching with interest. Lily, however, couldn't sit back and watch James and Sirius blow Lucius and Siverus to bits.

"Stop it! All of you!" She said, rising from her chair. Only the water from the Slytherin boys' hair could be heard dripping to the floor.

"This is none of your concern, Lily." James snapped. "Sirius and I can handle ourselves." 

"Please. Leave them alone, James." Lily said, more bravely than she felt. James glared at her, but grabbed Sirius' arm and dragged him out of the hall.

"James… she ruined the perfect prank!" Sirius moaned as he fought to continue washing Lucius' hair.

When they left the hall, Lucius and Siverus stormed out of the hall, leaving behind puddles of water and bubbles from the shampoo. Madison turned to Lily in shock.

"Bloody hell! What were you thinking?!" She whispered sharply. "You _do_ realize that now you're their new target, don't you?!"

"Better me than someone innocent." Lily said, returning to her eggs. Madison simply rolled her eyes.

"You can be so thick." She muttered.

Madison, Lily, and Belle trudged out to Herbology after Defense Against the Dark Arts in a bad mood. They had stopped by the common room to put on their cloaks, and they were now holding them tightly to themselves. The wind had picked up, and rain was splattering against their faces. Lily shivered and wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck.

The Gryffindors sixth years met up with Professor Sprout and the Ravenclaw sixth years in Greenhouse 4. This particular greenhouse was filled to the brim with exotic plants Lily and the other Gryffindors had not seen before.

"These are Wigglebees." Professor Sprout replied. She was a stout little witch with a large hat topping her flyaway gray hair. "I need you all to re-pot them, as they are growing quickly. I fear if we don't transfer them soon, they will die altogether." She replied sadly. "Groups of three, and make sure you wear your dragon hide gloves!"

Lily, Belle, and Madison moved to a station, and pulled on their gloves. Immediately, Lily could see why gloves were necessary when dealing with Wigglebees. These plants had long purple stocks and a small flower- if that's what you could call the brown sprout at the top. The thing that got Lily was that they were _covered_ in little thorns. She had no clue where to grasp the thing to pulling out of the dirt without harming her hands.

"Grab them firmly around the stem, and yank- hard. They should come up." Sprout replied. "But don't grasp them too hard, or their thorns might sting you."

Lily cautiously put her fingers around the horny stem, and pulled. It didn't come up right away, so she yanked again. This time, it popped out of the pot with such force that Lily stumbled back. A light buzzing was coming from the plant's twisted roots.

"Get the big pot…" Lily instructed Belle. Belle snatched a pot from the table and held it beneath the plant. Lily dropped it in, and Madison filled the pot with fresh soil.

Lily and her friends had re-potted about ten Wigglebees before Herbology ended. But before Lily even stepped out into the rain, she felt water splashing down her neck. She glanced up, and saw a tiny rain cloud hanging above her head, pouring water on her. She turned around and saw James and the Muarders howling with laughter.

Lily dashed outside with Belle on her heels. Even when they were back in the castle, the rain cloud hovered over her head, drenching Lily. Her hair was wet and hanging around her face. 

"God, Lil. We'd better get you to Madam Pomfry before you get sick." Belle suggested. 

"I'm not going to give James that satisfaction." She snapped.

"But you'll catch a cold!" Madison replied. "And you look ridiculous…" 

"So?" Lily said angrily. "I'll find a way to curse it off later." She added, wringing out her hair. But there was no point, for the rain cloud continued to drip icy water on her. 

"What's wrong, Lily? Having a bad day?" Sirius asked, laughing madly as approached Lily. 

"No, Sirius. This is how I _always_ spend my second day back at Hogwarts." Lily snapped. Trying to walk away.

"Is something bothering you?" He asked sarcastically. "You seem to have _something_ hanging over your head." 

"A little rain cloud, perhaps?!" James chimed.

"Shut your traps." Belle said, shoving past the boys. She put her hand on Lily's shoulder, but pulled it away, shaking off water. The muraders laughed hysterically.

"Oh come off it. Just admit you're being thick, Lily." James said. "We don't _have_ to play pranks on you. But you've got to stay out of our way."

But Lily didn't answer. She sneezed horribly, and walked away rapidly.

"Come on, Lily! Don't _storm_ off like that!" Sirius shouted after her, causing the muraders to burst out in laughs. 

Later after Care of Magical Creatures and History of Magic, Lily and Belle went down to the Grand Hall for dinner. Madison claimed she wasn't hungry and stayed in the Gryffindor tower. Lily's rain cloud was still hovering over her head, and although each teacher she saw suggested she see the school's nurse, Lily refused saying it wasn't that bad.

She had endured many taunts and teases from the muraders all evening, but by keeping the cloud over her head, she thought she was proving that she didn't care _what _they did to her.

Lily and Belle sat down at the table. Sniggers reached their ears, but Lily ignored them as best she could. Then, as usual, the Muraders walked into the room with their posse of girls.

But this time, a tall, blonde Gryffindor was clinging to Sirius' arm, grinning widely. She whispered something in Sirius' ear, but he seemed to not notice. 

The group of them sat down near Belle and Lily. The blonde girl did not need a chair however- she parked herself straight on Sirius' lap. Lily shook her head and tried to laugh, but it turned into a hacking cough.

"Lily, this is silly." Belle replied softly. "Go see Madam Pomfry." 

"No." Lily said defiantly. She turned her attention back to Sirius and the odd girl on his lap. 

"Si…" the girl whined. "Why can't we go to Hogsmeade together this weekend? Everyone from third year and up is allowed to…"

"I _told_ you. I doubt _we_ can, Dot." Sirius answered. Lily, of course, picked up the fact that Sirius and this girl, Dot, were dating. As of when, she didn't know. But it was obvious that Sirius wasn't planing on seeing this girl for long- he never did.  

Diner sprouted up on the table, and Lily ate quickly so her food wouldn't grow soggy because of the rain splattering down from the rain cloud. When the plates were gold and sparkling again, Lily pushed her chair back under the table so she and Belle could leave.

Sirius suddenly stood up, completely forgetting about the girl sitting in his lap. His girlfriend fell flat onto the floor, and Sirius broke into laughter.

"Help me, Si!" Dot shouted. He offered her a hand, which Dot took and pulled herself to her feet. But since Lily was standing there for awhile, rainwater was covering the floor and as Dot stood up, she slid on it. She and Sirius tumbled to the floor. 

"Smooth, Sirius. Real smooth." Lily scoffed, as she and Belle turned to leave. She could hear laughter coming from the hall as Sirius and Dot stood up as proudly as possible. That was a revenge Lily couldn't have planed better. 

But she wasn't going to let this rain cloud incident go unnoticed, she resolved as Belle pulled her to Madam Pomfry's hospital wing. No. She was planning something even better than humiliation in front of the school. Why not in front of Hogsmeade?


	4. A Trip to Hogsmeade & Lily's Nerves

**Chapter 5**

**The Trip to Hogsmeade**

Soon, the weekend arrived and Lily couldn't be more excited. She had spent the rest of the week planning the most perfect prank to play on the muraders. She practiced the charm over and over, making sure it would be prefect.

Belle, Lily, and Madison piled into the horseless buggy that took the third years and up to Hogsmeade- the only all wizard village in London. 

Rain was lightly splattering on the window and wind shook the trees. Lily stared out the window repeating the charm in her brain. The buggy bumped along the road, until it reached Hogsmeade's entrance.

Lily leaped out of the carriage, and dashed to the nearest overhang. She was still suffering from a cold from the rain cloud, and she wanted to stay as dry as possible. Belle joined Lily and they waited for Madison to flee from the rain, under the overhang.

"Ready?" Lily asked. 

"Yup. Let's go." Belle said. Lily led the way through the small village. Hogsmeade was one of Lily's favorite places. There were many famous shops on every corner and friendly witches and wizards were always around. There was the pub- the Three Broomsticks- and Honeydukes candy shop; and Zonko's joke shop and the well-known Shrieking Shack.

 The legend of the Shrieking Shack was told all over. Many Hogsmeade visitors and citizens started hearing strange howling noises the year that Lily arrived at Hogwarts. It could only be heard once a month, but the noise was nearly unbearable. Screams and moans were only a few of the sounds. It was said that the ghosts of the people who lived in the house were still there, causing all the noise. But Lily didn't believe that.

Lily jammed her hands in her pockets, trying to protect them from the bitter wind. Her red hair was flying around her face, making it hard to see. The three friends ran into the Three Broomsticks at top speed, before all the other students would get there.

Once inside, Lily ordered three butterbeers, and brought them to a table. Belle sat down and took the steaming drink from Lily's hands. Lily brought her glass to her numb lips and drank deeply. The warmth of the butterbeer slid down her throat and heated every part of her body. 

"Mmmm…" Madison muttered, taking a deep whiff of her drink. "I love butterbeer."

"Me too." Lily said. 

"Hey, Lil… look who's here." Belle said, nodding towards the doorway. A gust of chilly wind flew into the pub, making the girls shiver. The muraders wandered into the room. Sirius was indeed date-less, as Lily had guessed.

The boys noticed Belle, Lily, and Madison. They grinned to each other, and walked over.

"Hello, my darlings!" Sirius replied, taking a seat next to Lily. "Where's our drinks?" 

"Are you kidding?" Lily said, rolling her eyes. With out warning, Sirius snatched her drink out of her hands and began to drink from it. "What the hell! Get off!" Lily squealed, pulling her cup out of his grasp. James and Peter sat themselves down at the other end of the table.

"Wait- where's Remus?" Madison asked. "I thought you lot were inseparable." James cast a quick glance to Sirius, who was again trying to drink for Lily's glass.

"He's visiting his… er… sick grandmother." James said.

"Again?" Belle asked. "How many times has she died now?" She raised her eyebrows at him. Sirius gave up on Lily's glass, and began eyeing Madison's. 

"Oh! I meant to say Great Cousin." James corrected. "Yeah… Great Cousin Bertha. Such a sweet old dear, eh, Peter?"

"Um… right." Peter muttered.

"Oh no you don't!" Madison shouted, as Sirius placed a hand on her butterbeer. She slapped his hand forcefully. He pulled it back in alarm, and held it gently. It was obvious he was just asking for attention.

"Aw. Now you've gone and hurt his feelings!" James said sarcastically. "Smooth move… er… what's your name again?" He asked Madison.

"Oh God. You drink from my glass and you can't even remember my name! We've been in the same class for 6 years now!" She said, standing up and bringing her cup back to the bar.

"What?" James defended as the two girls glared at him. "I honestly don't remember!"

"Her name is Madison." Lily said hotly. She and Belle both stood up to leave. 

But as she was walking away, she pointed her wand at the muraders and whispered "_Bailamosos!"_

Suddenly, James, Peter, and Sirius sprung to their feet. James began waltzing with an invisible partner while Sirius began a handsome tap dance. At first, it didn't seem as though the charm had hit Peter, but then he sprang into a full-fledged can-can. 

Madison nearly choked on her laughter as the boys stared down at their uncontrollable feet and hands. Peter was pulling up his robes, kicking his legs higher than Lily ever thought possible. And Sirius! His feet were slapping at the ground a mile a minute. The whole room burst into laughter as he did a paddle-turn. 

But James topped them all. The look of horror and humiliation only added humor to his graceful movements. He stepped cautiously in time with the waltzing rhythm, though he tried as best he could to stop. His face was slowly turning red, and he was glaring directly at Lily. She did nothing but smile and shrug. 

"I never knew you all could be such great dancers!" Madison joked. "Do you know the Charleston?" Lily grinned and Belle and Madison followed her out of the pub.

"That was too perfect!" Belle replied. "I'm serious. It was great."

"Did you hear the way everyone was laughing?!" Lily said happily. 

"Yes! My God! They were all in hysterics!" Madison said.

"Maybe now James will think twice before playing another prank." Lily laughed.

"Come off it. _Nothing_ is going to stop them." Belle said. "And not to burst your bubble, but now you're really in for it."

"Oh please. You saw James' face. He isn't going to try anything soon." Madison assured.

On Wednesday, the storm seemed to have almost blown over. The sky was still clouded over and foggy, but not nearly as bad as it was before.

Remus was back in school, and although he looked pale, he seemed to be okay. For some weird reason, his family members always got sick once a month. Lily almost felt bad for him.

That night around midnight, the Gryffindor sixth years made their way up to the drafty Astronomy tower to study the stars. 

When they arrived to the roof-less room, Professor Hatterson was looking through a large telescope. She was a tall witch with long blonde hair that was tied with a flourish at the base of her neck. Her long lilac robes seemed to float like clouds around her ankles.

"Evening, class!" She said sweetly. "Gather 'round!" She instructed. The Huffelpuffs and Gryffindors scooted closer to her. "I realize the sky isn't ideal for stargazing tonight, but it's the best we've got. So I want to use your star charts and plot and name as many stars, moons, and planets as you can." She paused a moment to grin at her students. "_I'll_ pair you up, I think."

To Lily's disgust, she was paired up with none other than James. She was appalled, and almost walked out of the classroom. But, being the good student she was, she and James walked to their assigned window, and leaned against the frame. James didn't say anything, except for a few constellation names.

"There's Venus' second moon… and Capricorn." James muttered, drawing them on their chart. 

"James, I…" Lily began, but then decided against it. "Nevermind. There's Mercury."

"Look, Lily." James said, turning away from the window. He seemed on the verge of laughter for some reason. "I'm sorry. Okay? I'm Z_uzorri."_

"What? I couldn't hear that last bit…" Lily replied. But, to Lily's total shock, the words did not come out of her mouth sounding that way. She was having a hard time getting the words to spill out of her mouth, and she could barely breath.

"…tib tsal taht raeh t'ndluoc I ?tahW" was how it really sounded.

"!lleh eht tahW" Lily shouted. Students looked at her strangely. Sirius' laughter could be heard ringing over the murmurs of confusion.

"What did you say, Lily?" Professor Hatterson asked. Lily looked at James and saw his wand in his hand.

"!!em desruc semaJ" Lily screamed. But no one knew what she had said. James was howling with laughter; clutching his sides and pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"Oh my. The Backwards Curse, James?" Hatterson said. "I'm afraid that is unacceptable in my classroom. Here Lily…" She said, whipping out her wand. "_Irrozuz!"_ She said. Lily gasped and held her throat.

"James…" Lily muttered. 

But James couldn't answer. He was clinging to the window for support as he laughed loudly.

"Mr. Potter." Hatterson said strictly. "I'm afraid this deserves a detention. I will not allow my students to be cursed when not instructed to do so!"

James just continued to chuckle. 

Lily glared at him, and stared blankly out the window to the frosty gray sky. She hated James. He was a horrible person. Just the thought of being near him made her sick. Talking backwards? How immature. But… she could always fight fire with fire…

**Chapter 6**

**Lily's Nerves**

Over the next week, nothing overly exciting occurred. In fact, the only thing Lily was looking forward to was Halloween, which was now fast approaching. Sirius had gone through four more girlfriends, and was now going out with a Ravenclaw Lily had never heard of.

On the Friday just before Halloween, Lily was ready to pull her own little prank on the muraders. Although James was the only one who cast the Backwards Spell on her, she thought she'd make a clean job of it and curse the lot of them.

"Hey! Muraders!" Lily shouted after them that day heading to Care of Magical Creatures. "_Soliloquy Nonfinite!"_ she shouted, pointing her wand at their chests.

"What the-" Sirius said. "You're an odd one, Lily…" he shrugged. 

But suddenly, Remus began to hum softly. James nodded, and joined in. Then Sirius and Peter began to sing along. Soon, the four of them were singing the Everybody's Nerves song.

"_We know a song that gets on everybody's nerves/ Everybody's nerves/ Everybody's nerves/ We know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes…_

_"We know a song that gets on everybody's nerves/ Everybody's nerves…."_

At first, people in the halls thought nothing of this. Everyone just chuckled and thought the muraders were being their same old, goofy selves. But Lily, Belle and Maidson knew better.

But as Double Care of Magical Creatures began, the boys couldn't stop singing. Professor Higgle reprimanded them over and over, but they continued to sing. James and Peter were pointing at Lily, trying to show the Professor that they weren't acting upon their own free will. But Sirius seemed to be playing up this attention for all it was worth. 

He would walk amongst the Slytherin students and Gryffindor students, belting out the song at the top of his lungs, hardly pausing for a breath. People would hit him across the face as he leaned on them and started to serenade them with the one song that really _did_ get on everybody's nerves.

Professor Higgle was a short-tempered witch with short gray hair and long green robes. She was the type of person you did not want to aggravate. 

"BOYS!" Professor Higgle shouted. "I swear, if you lot don't silence yourselves, you will be facing some serious detentions!" 

Peter's face fell. He always avoided detentions as much as possible. But his song continued, and try as he might to close his mouth, he was fighting a losing battle.

"And Mr. Potter, you will lose your privilege as a Prefect if you can't control your songbird ability!" Higgle warned. James eyes widened, but then narrowed as he looked at Lily.

Lily just grinned innocently. If she continued to play her cards right, she could make James lose his Prefect badge. 

But the look on his face was almost too painful. He was staring at Lily, his eyes begging her to reverse the spell, even though his mouth was singing loudly. It was actually quite comical. But suddenly, the argument Lily and James had had on the first night back swam into her brain…

_"I've worked my ass off to get this far… and I plan on being Head Boy."_ Did Lily hate him so much to take that dream away from him? And his parents… what would they think if their son suddenly lost his badge he had worked so hard to achieve?

She whipped out her wand and softly muttered, "_Soliloquy Finite."_ Suddenly, James and his friends stopped singing. Sirius looked at the large, pimply Slythierin girl he was singing to, and stepped away slowly. 

"It was _Lily_, Professor! _She_ did it!" James hollered. "She cast that hex on us!"

"Lily!" Higgle exclaimed, whipping around to star at her. "Is this true? And don't you dare lie to me…"

Lily thought for a moment, bit her lip, and said, "Yes, madam. But James started it… I swear. Last night he-" 

"I already know what occurred last night, thank you. You and James will serve you detentions _together_ in hopes that you will learn to get along." Professor Higgle said.

"_D-detention?!"_ Lily gasped.

"It's really not that bad, Lily. I've been there hundreds of times!" Sirius said cheerfully. 

"But Professor, I-" Lily began. "_James_-"

"This is not to be discussed, Lily." Higgle snapped. "Meet me in the entrance hall tonight at six- both of you."

Lily moped down to the entrance hall at quarter to six. She couldn't believe this was happening. In all her years at Hogwarts, she had never once faced a detention. But now, here she was, waiting to meet _James Potter_. 

Professor Higgle arrived shortly after Lily. She began pacing around the hall, keeping an eye out for James.

"Where _is_ that boy?!" Higgle wondered.

"I don't know." Lily replied. "But I still have homework, Professor. Will this take long?" Maybe she would get let off because of James' tardiness. 

"It depends on how long it takes Mr. Potter to arrive." Higgle sneered. Lily sighed. But finally, James came walking down the marble staircase at 6:15.

"Why, Mr. Potter! Thank you for showing up!" Higgle snapped. "For your detentions, you will be helping the gamekeeper, Hagrid."

"What exactly will we be doing to help him?" Lily asked tentatively. She had seen Hagrid on grounds and he always looked a little frightening, although she had never actually met him. Lily had heard rumors that he was Slytherin's heir and had tried to purge the school of the muggle borns. She hoped now, more than ever, that those _were_ just rumors.

"You will be helping him clean the Quidditch Stadium." Higgle said swiftly, leading the way down the stone steps. "As I'm sure you know, James, we have our first Quidditch game of the season next weekend, and we need the field in top-notch condition."

When they reached the huge stadium, Lily was surprised at how much bigger it seemed now that she knew she had to clean it. Although, the stadium was always big. It was a long, oval shaped, grassy field with hundreds of seats surrounding it. The six goal posts were positioned three at each end 50 feet in the air, and there was sand neatly spread beneath them. Lily noticed that Hagrid was carefully sifting the sand back into its area. Hagrid was an unnaturally tall man with wild brown hair, beetle-like eyes, and a long, mole skin coat. 

"Rubeus! Rubeus!" Higgle called. "I've brought you some help!"

"Ah!" Rubeus Hagrid said enthusiastically. "Great! I could ruddy well use some." 

"I'll just leave you three to it, then, shall I?" Higgle said. "I'll come back for you in a few hours." She said to Lily and James.

"Bye!" Hagrid said, waving. "Right." He said, turning to Lily. "I want both of yeh ta scrub the seats in the stadium. I've got some stuff yeh can use… and here're some cloths…" 

He handed James bottles and bottles of cleaning supplies and then began loading Lily up on rags and scrub brushes. Then Hagrid handed them each a bucket of water, which they held onto unsteadily.

"Right then, straight to it." He said. "By the way, whatter yer names?" 

"I'm Lily Evans…" She muttered, cautiously bending down to pick up a dropped wash cloth.

"James. James Potter." James said. "It's nice to meet you. Com'on, Lil." He said, motioning to Lily to follow him up a flight of stairs that led to the stadium seats.

James led them to the very top of the stadium so they could clean their way back down again. When they were as high as they could go James set down his bucket and bottles of soap and rolled up his sleeves, revealing his muscular arms.

"Where do you reckon we should start?" He asked. He said this as though it was no big deal, but Lily found this whole situation very ridiculous.

"How should I know? _I've_ never had a detention before." She snapped, setting down her things as well.

"Oh, come off it." James said. Grabbing a purple bottle and emptying its contents into James' bucket. "It's both our faults we're here."

"Honestly!" Lily sighed. "You're the one who started this whole prank thing in the first place." She said bitterly, tossing the purple bottle to the floor. She snatched a violent blue bottle and pouring the soapy liquid into her bucket.

"_My _fault?" James asked. "Oh, God. You're not talking about that chair thing, are you? That was on the first night back. You didn't take that seriously, did you?" 

Lily chose not to answer, but dipped her brush into the bubbly, cold, water. She began to scrub the first chair with great force.

"Jesus." James muttered. "You can be so… so…"

"So _what_ exactly?" Lily snapped, looking up from the chair to stare harshly at James. 

"So… I don't know… evil." James said lamely. Evil? Was that the best he could do? Lily shook her head, and returned to her scrubbing. They stopped talking for awhile, but they moved down the rows of seats slowly. Time passed by, but how long, Lily wasn't sure.

"That was a pretty clever charm, though." James said suddenly. Lily didn't look up. 

"Which?"

"The annoying song one." James replied. "I dunno… Sirius found it very funny." He shrugged. "So did Remus."

"And Peter?"

"He thought we were all going to get expelled." James laughed. Lily shook her head and smiled.

"I wouldn't have let you get expelled." 

"And why not?" James asked. She could tell he was looking at her, but she stared determinedly at her scrub brush.

"Because I just wouldn't." Lily said shortly. "To be honest, _I_ don't know what I'd do without Hogwarts… I don't think I could force someone to leave."

"Hm." James replied. Then they returned to silence.

"And that rain cloud charm…" Lily began. She couldn't really think of a complement to go with that particular prank, so it melted into silence.

"Well, I will admit, that was a little harsh." James laughed. "Funny, mind you- but harsh." Lily took a quick sidelong glance at James. 

He was bent over a chair, scrubbing it carefully with all his might. It was obvious that once he put his mind to something, he finished it with flying colors. His robe was hung carelessly over a chair behind him, and his glasses were sliding down his nose, his Hogwarts tie hanging around his neck, untied and his shirt wasn't tucked in.

Lily smiled, and pushed her red hair out of her face. For one glimmering moment, she almost thought he looked handsome. She almost could see just why girls flocked around him at lunch and why boys would kill to be in his place. And yet, here he was, scrubbing a chair with those fit arms- arms that were claimed to be perfect for Quidditch players. 

"Oh God!" Lily said aloud, shaking her head rapidly. Had she just thought _James_ was handsome?! Ugh! The thought was repulsive! 

"What? What's wrong?" James asked.

"Nothing… nothing at all." Lily muttered. How could she have thought that? _James Potter? _Disgusting! 

"Er… okay." James said. 

"POTTER! EVANS!" Someone shouted. Lily stood up and James rushed to the edge of the platform. He looked down over the banister.

"It's Higgle." He said. "She's back."

"COME DOWN HERE!!" Professor Higgle yelled. 

"OKAY! KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON!" James shouted back. "For all our sakes." He said to Lily. She laughed softly.

"Reckon we should bring these back down?" He asked.

"Most likely." Lily replied, picking up her now half empty bucket of water and rags. James slung his robe over his shoulder and picked up the assortment of soap bottles.

When they were back on the grass, Higgle and Hagrid were talking.

"Did they behave, Rubeus?" Higgle asked, eyeing James.

"You bet they did." Hagrid nodded. He glanced at Lily and winked. She smiled back as she placed her bucket and cloths on the ground. "And I thank em both." He added.

"Well, we best get up to the castle." Higgle replied. "See you, then." Hagrid turned back to his grass cutting, and the three of them headed back to the school.

"Er… you do realize that this doesn't change anything, right?" James said softly to Lily. "We're still going to get back at you for the song hex."

"Oh, I know." Lily said. "I didn't expect anything less." She replied honestly.

"Just making sure." James laughed. "What would the muraders say if I told them I'd gone soft on our favorite target?!" He joked.

"It would be a sad day for the muraders, indeed." Lily said, walking a little faster. She really didn't see what would be so bad if they stopped pestering her, but she wasn't about to tell James that.

"Yeah. A very sad day." James nodded. "Hey, slow down." He said, jogging to keep up with Lily's fast pace. 

"Well, then." Professor Higgle replied, stopping in the entrance hall. "This is where I leave you two. Hurry up to your common rooms."

"Of course, Professor." James said. Higgle missed the sarcasm. She walked quickly up the marble steps and turned to the left. Lily began to walk up the steps with James at her heels.

"So." James replied, trying to make conversation. "What do you think about that Masquerade Ball? Should be fun, eh?" 

"_Why_ are you still talking to me?" Lily sighed, walking faster.

"Well, why not?" James said, smiling and running to her side.

"Because you wouldn't want to ruin your wonderful reputation, now would you?" She said hotly. "Just _imagine_ what the muraders would say!"

"You take things _far_ too seriously, you know that, don't you?" James replied, shaking his head. He had struck a nerve, and he knew it, too. Lily assumed that was the only reason he was still hanging around. Was it his goal in life to bother her?

"So what if I do?" Lily said, walking faster still. "What difference does it make? Roughneck." Lily said to the Fat Lady in the portrait. The picture swung aside, revealing the portrait hole. Lily climbed through, and James followed.

The muraders were all sleeping in random places around the room. Sirius was strewn on the couch, Peter curled on a pouf, but Remus was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Remus?" Lily whispered.

"Why should you care?" James asked coolly. 

"Don't be thick. I'm just wondering."

"It's his grandfather… don't mention it to anyone, Remus is very attached to him." James said, plopping down on the couch next to a snoring Sirius. 

"That's very sad." Lily said mischievously. "Remus seems to have a very ill family. Perhaps we should make them all a banner or something, to show our support…"

"No!" James said quickly. "I mean, no, that's not necessary." 

"I see." Lily said. "You know, James, I can't help but notice how Remus' family gets ill once a month. What's up with that? First his Great Cousin or whatever, now his grandfather…"

"It's really not that big a deal…"

"Oh, but, James! It is!" Lily said sarcastically. Maybe this time she had really got them right where she wanted them. If Remus was sneaking off grounds every month…

"Lily, don't get involved in things you don't understand." James said.

"I understand perfectly." Lily smirked. "I've got you this time."

"No, Lily. You don't." James said, shaking Sirius.

"Wh-what?! What'd I miss… are we leaving now?" He stuttered.

"Leaving? Where?" Lily asked innocently. "Not _off grounds_, are you?"

"Shut up, Lily." James said. "Petigrew!" Peter suddenly jolted awake.

"Hm? Oh! Back already, James?" Peter asked.

"I've been gone over an hour, Peter!" James said. "Go away, Lily." He added. Sirius yawned and stretched.

"Fine. This time." She said. She turned on her heel and strode up the stairs. Lily would find out what they were hiding. She wouldn't rest until she had.


	5. Animangi and Moonlight & Halloween & Gry...

_Hey everyone! Thanks for your last couple reviews… I STILL WANT MORE! Dammit. Anywho… breathing… I really wanna be done with this story, because I like the next one loads better, and I think that you all will too. TRUST ME, it's cool. So, here's three, count em—three—chapters for you to enjoy and review like crazy, because I know that you all will… riiiiight??_

**Chapter 7**

**Anamangi and Moonlight**

A few moments later, Lily was back on the staircase, listening to the marauders. She was going to follow them and find out what they were hiding from everyone. She slowly pulled back her hair, and tiptoed through the shadows, down the steps.

"Are you both ready?" She heard James ask. "Did you get my Invisibility Cloak?" James had an Invisibility Cloak? There was no way _those_ were allowed at Hogwarts…

"Jesus, James. We don't need that thing." Sirius replied. "Peter can check if the coast is clear, then you and I will go."

"I'd feel safer if-"

"Let's just go. He's been waiting long enough." Peter said. Lily heard a little pop, and she peered around the corner to see what had happened. Peter was no longer visible. Could he Apperate? No not on Hogwarts' Grounds… 

James moved to the portrait hole, and looked out it. Sirius yawned again.

"Clear, Pete?" Sirius asked. Lily heard another pop, and Peter walked past James into the common room. How did he do that?

"Yeah. Come on." Peter said. James and Sirius followed Peter out of the room. Lily heard another pop, and the portrait hole closed. Lily scrambled down the stairs, and dashed out after them. 

She slid through the shadows behind the muraders. Where were they going? Peter wasn't visible, but James and Sirius were watching something on the ground Lily couldn't see.

She followed them all the way down the entrance hall. The muraders skipped down the front steps into the crisp night air. Moonlight was filtering down on the grounds and Lily had a hard time keeping in the shadows. Lily looked up and saw the full moon slipping out from behind a cloud. James and Sirius were walking towards the Whomping Willow- a wild tree whose branches swung violently trying to hit whoever it could.

"Go ahead, Wormtail." Sirius whispered, glancing cautiously over his shoulder. Wormtail? Lily leaped behind a tree, and peered over to them. Suddenly, the tree's branches stopped whipping and hung uselessly in the air.

"Ready?"

"Yeah…" James said. There was another pop, and standing in James' place was a large, brilliant, stag. Lily gasped. James was an Anamangus? He could turn into an animal? No way…

There was another pop, and a large, black dog replaced Sirius. Sirius was an Anamangus too? But there was no possible way they were allowed to be Anamangi… they were under age. That meant they were breaking the law. 

Sirius the dog crawled between the branches and down a hole Lily had never noticed before. James began to follow him. 

"James!" Lily shouted, making the stag turn abruptly, and pop back into James. Sirius hopped out of the hole, no longer in dog form.

"Evans? What are _you_ doing here?" Sirius asked. "Did you…?" He questioned James.

"No!" James shouted defensively. "Lily? What's going on?"

"I should be asking you the same! Illegal Anamangi?" Lily replied. "You could be put in Azkaban Wizard Prison, for that!" 

"Why would you care?" James shouted. "Besides, you don't understand _why_ we're Anamangi anyway!"

"It's _illegal_, James!" Lily yelled. "This isn't some silly school rule you're breaking… it's the _law_!"

"Oh, come on, Lil-a-roo." Sirius said, shrugging and trying to be funny.

"And Sirius! How could you do this? I know you don't care about Hogwarts rules, but this is totally different!" Lily replied.

"Lily, you _really _don't understand." James reasoned. 

"Thought you'd sneak out of school, hm? Thought you'd take a little _holiday_, hm?" Lily said, anger was rising in her voice. "Well, maybe I should tell Headmaster Dumbledore about this little _excursion._" 

"No, Lily! Don't do that!" James said anxiously.

"Tell me why I shouldn't, then." Lily snapped. This was absurd.

"We're… er… helping a friend." Sirius said. His brown eyes were looking meaningfully up to the sky.

"What does helping a friend have to do with being an Anamangus?" Lily asked. "And where's Peter?"

"He's with our friend." James said quickly.

"Explain. _Now._" Lily said. "Or I'll be going to the Headmaster first thing in the morning."

"It's Remus…" James said softly. Lily stared at him in disbelief.

"Oh, come on. Remus?" Lily said. "Okay, I'll play along: What about Remus?" James exchanged a glance with Sirius.

"He's… er… sick." 

"Sick?"

"Yes." 

"How so?" Lily asked. "Or is this like his family? Some made up illness so he can run away every month?" Lily shook her head. "I still don't see how this has anything to do with you being Anamangi…"

"Remus has this problem." James began. "But it only happens once a month…"

"Damn, James. You make it sound like he has PMS or something." Sirius said. "Remus' problem happens only once in a-"

"Full moon. I noticed." Lily interrupted quietly, glancing at the moon. Suddenly, there was a scratching sound by the Willow, and a small rat appeared at Lily's feet.

"Ew!" She said, pulling her foot out of the way. But there was a pop, and Peter was standing in the rat's place. "_You're_ an Anamangus too?!" Lily said, amazed.

"Yeah, but that's not important now… it's Remus…" Peter said quickly. Then he turned to James. "He's coming. I-I couldn't stop him…"

"Lily, you have to go- _now_!" James said, running over, and pulling her away.

"James, we're talking about Remus, here. He wouldn't hurt me." Lily protested, yanking James' hands off her shoulders.

"I'm serious, Lily. Go!" James said. "Remus…er, isn't himself right now…"  

"Lily, you really should go…" Sirius said nervously. Lily noticed a look of panic on his face Lily had never seen before. A sudden pang of fright splashed over her.

"What's wrong with Remus?" She gasped. "Where is he?"

James exchanged a dark look with Sirius. Peter glanced nervously at the Willow. Then, Peter disappeared into his rat form and scampered toward the tree with a little squeak. No one seemed to want to tell Lily what was going on.

"James…?" Lily questioned cautiously. He just shook his head, and tried to push her back to the castle.

Suddenly, there was a low, loud growl from the Whomping Willow. Lily, Sirius and James stared at it. Then, there was a huge crunch of wood, and splinters flew into the air. Lily screamed and shielded her eyes from the flying wood. She watched, wide-eyed, at the huge wolf that was now standing at the base of the tree. Lily knew immediately that this was no ordinary wolf- it was a werewolf.

"Lily! Go!" James shouted. But Lily was frozen in fear at the spot. The half-man, half-wolf, paused staring at Lily, the hairs bristling on its neck. James was no longer by her side, but a large stag was now next to her, pawing the ground. Sirius vanished with a pop into the black dog. The werewolf looked confused for a moment and Lily saw its eyes soften at the sight of Sirius and James in their animal form. 

But it was still watching Lily's every breath; it was obviously contemplating whether or not to attack her. It growled again and began to walk closer to her. Lily's heart was pounding in her chest. Every breath she took was sharp and short.

The werewolf growled- low and menacing. It crouched down, ready to pounce, it's gray eyes sparkling maliciously.    

Sirius barked loudly and the wolf turned its attention to him. James nudged Lily in the side, and back into consciousness. She looked at him, and his eyes told her to run.

Lily watched the wolf prowling around the tree, and she backed up slowly, then broke into a run. She sprinted as fast as she could possibly go. The wolf's howling- long, single-note growls- cut into the crisp night air. 

Lily didn't stop running until she was safe on the second floor. She walked to a window and looked out to where she had been standing no less that 60 seconds ago. 

The moon was no longer visible on the grounds- it must have hidden itself behind a cloud. James and Sirius were back in human form and bent over a hunched human shape. The person was on all fours, gasping for air on the grass. Peter reappeared out of the Willow, and walked over to James and Sirius. Sirius helped the human down into the hole, and James followed. When the four of them had disappeared down the hole, the Whomping Willow's branches began to swing violently again.

Lily sneaked back up to the Gryffindor dormitories and did not wait for James, Sirius, and Peter to return. Something told her they did not want to see her. She had held them up, and almost caused a serious disaster. 

Lying safely in her bed, she thought all of them could have been killed. But Lily couldn't help wondering what that thing was? It was obviously a werewolf, but _who_ was the werewolf? 

Suddenly, it hit her. Remus. Remus Lupin was a werewolf. That's what James and Sirius had been trying to tell her. Once a full moon, Remus would turn into a werewolf and hide down that hole. The Whomping Willow protected him and all the students at Hogwarts. But what if he got out like he had awhile ago? Everyone would be in danger. He could kill; it wouldn't be his fault, just instinct. 

This couldn't be kept secret. Sure, the muraders had thought this plan through, but it just wasn't safe. Someone had to tell Dumbledore that there was a werewolf attending Hogwarts. But wouldn't he notice one of his pupils was absent once a month? 

Lily had to hand it to James: he was a very caring person. He went through all that just to help a friend. But why? What was in it for him?

**Chapter 8**

**Halloween**

The next morning, on Halloween, Lily hurried to the library to research werewolves. If she was going to go to Dumbledore, she needed to present her case properly. Remus would be back in school today, because a full moon only lasted one day and night.

She poured over books, skimming page after page of information. Nothing really seemed to be important, other than the fact that a bite from a werewolf would make you a werewolf. 

Lily looked up from her book, _Moonlight at Midnight _by Marcus Kathbirt, to see James and Sirius stumble into the library. They seemed to be looking for someone.

"Lily!" James said, sounding relieved.

"Damn… look at this place!" Sirius said. "James! Look at all the books!" 

"Yeah, Si, no kidding- it's a _library_." James said. "Lily about last night-"

"Do people really come in here to read?" Sirius asked. "It's amazing! James, how come we've never come in here?" The thing that scared Lily was that he sounded serious. He left Lily's table and went walking though the aisles of books, a look of shock on his face. 

"Ignore him." James sighed. "So about last night…"

"I think it's sweet, all the trouble you went to keep Remus here. But it's entirely unsafe." Lily said. "Look:" She pushed the book she was reading under James' nose. "Remus could bite someone… or kill them, even. And here, it says-"

"We know all that." James said, shoving the book away without glancing at it. He looked around nervously, even though no one was in the library. "And Headmaster Dumbledore already knows that Remus is… well, he knows."

"He… does?"

"Yeah." James said. "Every full moon, Madam Pomfry escorts Remus down through the tunnel and-"

"Where does the tunnel lead?" Lily asked.

"The Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade." James said. "And Dumbledore suggested planting the Whomping Willow to prevent people from following them."

"It makes sense…" Lily shrugged. "But does Dumbledore know about you three being unregistered, underage, _illegal_, Anamangi?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. "What was the point of that? Just for fun or…?"

"No." James whispered. "He doesn't know about that." He glanced around nervously again, then continued. "We felt bad about Remus having to leave- to be honest we were jealous, too." Lily was about to speak up, but he silenced her. "We knew it would be unsafe to approach Remus as humans. So, Peter did some research and found out that werewolves are calmer around animals. That gave us the idea to become Anamangi. 

"We've practiced behind the teachers' backs for the past five years. Just this year we've finally mastered it. 

"We had Peter become a rat so he could sneak around, making sure coasts were clear and so he could press the knot on the Whomping Willow that makes the branches stop swinging. Sirius became a dog, so Remus could have a companion- sort of. I practiced becoming a stag, so if Remus got out of hand, there would be a bigger creature around to put him in his place."

"Sure it all sounds good," Lily reasoned. "But if you get caught…"

"We know." James sighed. "We'd be in loads of trouble."

"More than that!" Lily reprimanded. "You could be thrown into Azkaban without another thought. You'd be like a common criminal!"

"Lily, listen: Remus has become a lot more behaved, now that we come visit him when he's in his wolf form. Even Pete thinks so!" 

"James! You don't get it!" Lily said angrily. "You're breaking the law!"

"God! For once in your life, could you just butt out?!" James shouted. Madam Pince, the librarian shushed him, so he lowered his voice to a whisper. "We're trying to help a friend. It has nothing to do with you!"

"It sure did last night."

"Come off it! That's only because you couldn't keep your nose out of other people's business. We didn't make you follow us, you know." James said softly.

"It _is_ my business if people are in danger of-"

"Lily, Remus wouldn't hurt anyone. And if he tries, Sirius and I are there to stop him- like last night. We wouldn't have let him hurt you." James shook his head for a moment, then said, "Remember what you said during detention?"

  "If you want me to side with you, you shouldn't bring up the most disgraceful moment of my life, James."

"You said you'd never force anyone to leave Hogwarts." James said, trying to catch her eye. But Lily was looking determinedly at her book. She would not look into those blue eyes.

"This is different."

"Different how?" James asked. She could tell he was smiling.

"People's lives are at steak, James. You just can't accept the fact you're playing along with something stupid." Lily snapped, packing up her books.

"Lily, stop." James sighed, putting his hand on the books so she couldn't put them into her bag. 

"Let _go_, James. I'm going to see Professor Dumbledore." Lily said. James let go, but when Lily glanced at his face, he was staring at the floor. His eyes had a slight look of defeat. "You've crossed the line this time." She said sympathetically. 

"Hey Lily!" Sirius called. 

"What is it, Sirius?" She replied, exasperated. 

"How do you check out a book?" He asked, walking over. Lily couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but she laughed anyway. He looked very pleased with himself, and he showed her a book of Quidditch.

"Talk to James… he'll know." Lily sighed. "I'm leaving." She turned on her heel and strode out of the library, slamming the door behind her.

Since it was almost time for the Halloween Feast, Lily decided to speak to Dumbledore the next day. James words kept repeating themselves in her brain as she made her way to the Prefect washroom to take a bath. Why was it so hard to defeat James? Sure, it seemed simple at the time, but he always bounced back and retaliated. And he always made her feel so guilty- it must be his blue eyes. 

She left the washroom with a towel over her head; she had borrowed the Prefects' shampoo, and it said to leave it in awhile before rinsing.

She hurried to get dressed for the feast. McGonagall had tracked her down earlier that day and told her she needed to make an announcement of some kind. She wanted to look as impressive as possible.

But, when she took her hair out of the towel, the whole castle could hear her scream bouncing off the windows and making everyone's heads turn.

"JAMES!!!" She hollered. 

Looking in the mirror, she could see that instead of her usual cheerful red, she had vivid, _emerald_ _green_ hair. Stunned, James came up the stairs to the dormitory. 

"You called, Lily dearest?" He replied, but the moment he spotted Lily he let out a snort of laughter.

"_What_ have you done?!" She yelled, running her fingers through her putrid green hair. She looked like a freak. How could this happen?

"I… I didn't!" James said, spluttering with laughter. Sirius came up to the girls' dormitories to see what the commotion was, and he too was startled.

"Whoa! When the dye said green it really meant _green_, didn't it, James?" He chuckled.

"_How_ am I supposed to live with this?!" Lily hollered. "I have _GREEN_ hair!!" 

"Calm yourself, Lily! I think it brings out your eyes quite nicely." James snickered. 

"I hate you! All four of you! How could you do this to me?!" Lily screamed. "How can I fix this?!"

"You're going to tell on us." James shrugged. "We had to teach you a lesson." 

"My God, James!" Lily shouted. "I haven't told anybody! And I'm not going to!" She turned back to the mirror. "But _this_… how can I live with this?"

"Wait- you're not going to go to Dumbledore? Boy, do we feel dumb now!" Sirius laughed. "But don't worry, Lily! Green is… er… very hip- and original. No one else in the school has green hair, you can bet on that."

"GET OUT!" Lily bellowed. "Both of you! I never want to see either of you again! I have to face the whole school tonight- and because of you, it will be the worst thing I've ever done!"

James and Sirius scurried out of the room quickly. Madison and Belle were quick to dash up the steps. Belle actually screamed when she saw the remains of Lily's hair.

"Er… don't worry!" Madison said. "We'll fix it…" 

But after a half an hour, Lily's hair was still mostly green. Madison was able to conjure a few red streaks, but unless she had more time- which they didn't- Lily's hair would have to stay this way; at least for the rest of the night. 

After the delicious feast, Professor McGonagall called all the Prefects up to the teachers' table. She handed Lily a long piece of parchment for her to read to the school. Lily heard a few sniggers and saw some fingers point at her half-green, half-red hair.

"We, the Prefects of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, are planning a very secret, special event for all of you." Lily read loudly. She paused for effect. "This event will be taking place in honor of our new Headmaster, Professor Dumbeldore. We are sure that each and every one of you will want to attend, as it will be an amazing experience." McGonagall motioned for her to pass the paper to the next Prefect, so she handed it to James.

"We won't tell you exactly _what_ this event will be, as we want it to be a surprise." James said, hardly looking at the parchment. "But, we will advise that you all come to dinner on the 15 of November dressed in your best robes." He smiled out at the astonished crowd. "No, you will not need to find partners for this event- it will be… er… unnecessary." He grinned for a second. "You might not find them again."

At this statement, the students burst into a confused whisper. It sounded like a huge gust of wind had flooded into the hall, and was swishing around the room.

_"Why_ did you tell them that?" Lily snapped. "Now they'll know they'll be masked!" 

"Are you kidding?" James scoffed softly. "How could they know?!" He smiled as McGonagall approached them. 

"Lovely job! Superb!" She glowed. "Now, I'd like all of you to stay behind after the rest of the school goes back to their dormitories." McGonagall said to the Prefects. "We need to discuss the decorations."

After all the students had left the hall, McGonagall rounded them up to the staff table again.

"Right. So, what band do we want to play at our event?" She asked excitedly. 

"Oh! How about Gina Pentium?!" Haley suggested. "She plays all sorts of music and has a _great_ backup." Everyone gave nods of consent.

"Wonderful… and the setting?" McGonagall prompted.

"I'm thinking loads of fabric banners… candles… and mini-tables- not our bulky house tables." Cindy said, closing her eyes and imagining the hall. "Very romantic, yet very relaxing and casual."

"Or we could have a huge light show!" Jonathan said happily.

"A light show is a little much, I think." Lucius said coldly. "I like Cindy's idea much better." He flashed Cindy a large, toothy smile. She looked very pleased with herself.

"Fabric and candles it is then!" McGonagall said. "What kind of masks should we get? Potter- Evans? You both haven't said much. What do you think?"

"Subtle." Lily said. "Nothing too extravagant. Maybe it should match the fabrics in the decorations."

"Guys one color, gals another?" James shrugged. 

"Good, good." McGonagall said, jotting these thoughts in a notebook. "Very well then! I'll notify you of our next meeting. And good luck with Quidditch, next week, Potter." James smiled and nodded.

The Prefects left the Grand Hall and hurried up to their dormitories. But no one was quicker than Lily. She was determined to avoid the marauders at all costs. 

"Help!" Lily spluttered to Madison as she dashed into the common room. "My hair! We need to fix my hair!" She whispered harshly. But Madison seemed a little too preoccupied with Sirius to pay Lily much attention.

"Hold on!" Madison said. "So, you were saying, Si?"

But Lily didn't wait to hear the rest of Sirius' more than pathetic joke. She rushed over to Belle, and begged her for assistance.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'." Belle said, hopping up from her chair. "I agree, we have to fix this before Monday."

So the two of them worked tirelessly on Lily's hair for most of the evening. Madison did not come up to their dormitory to help them. By 9:00, Lily's hair looked almost like she had meant to dye it that dreadful color.

"I can't believe James and Sirius would do this to me!" Lily moaned as she watched Belle whisper the incantation and streak a small section of her hair red again. "They should know by now I take my appearances seriously. If you can't look respectable, no one will respect you!"

"Hang on. I'll be back." Belle said. But at the look of panic on Lily's face, she added, "I promise! I just thought of something that might help." She winked, and headed out the door.

She returned moments later with James. She smiled guiltily, shoved James inside, and retreated out of the room, slamming the door.

"What makes her think I want to talk to _you_?" Lily snapped, standing up and turning to the mirror to brush her semi-green hair.

"Look, it's not that big of a deal. Why do girls care so much about how they look anyway?" James sighed, sitting down on a random bed.

"They just do!" Lily said hotly, not looking away from her reflection.

"Oh, God! You're hair is almost completely red again. So why does it matter?" He asked in an offhand voice. "You can't even tell."

"The ends!" Lily said sharply, snatching the tips of her hair and brandishing them at James from afar. 

"Who gives a damn?" 

"Well, for one, _I DO!"_ She shouted. "_I care!_"

"Well then, you're just stupid. You shouldn't care what people think of you." James said wisely. "You're… er… very pretty. Regardless of what color you hair is." Lily could tell he didn't really mean this. Why would a famous Quidditch star care? It's not like she really mattered to him. The only reason he was up in this dormitory was because Belle- the good friend she was- thought it would make Lily feel better. Too bad Belle was wrong.

"Just go." Lily sighed. "I really don't want to talk to you." James made to go, but Lily found herself turning around to stop him.

"Is there something else, my darling?" James asked harshly, bowing. 

Lily paused, then, "Yeah. Tell Belle to take her time coming back up."

"Yes, your highness." James muttered. He left, and closed the door with a loud bang that made Lily jump.

Lily flopped herself on her bed. James' words were still boring into her. "_You shouldn't care…"_ But she did. Why, though?

Then she did something she hadn't done in the longest time. She always carried her diary with her when she went to Hogwarts- and everywhere else interesting. She'd never really written in it, though. The whole purpose of it was so that she could write in it, then show her family all the things she had done, and thought about during the course of a year. But, when Lily tried to do this after her first year at Hogwarts, she had found her parents really didn't care _what_ happened at school- as long as she was out of their way. 

With increasing sadness, she looked over the pages and pages she had written in her first year. She had sounded so thrilled, so happy- and so eager. She had talked about how she had successfully made a feather float in Charms, transformed a match into a needle, and even made a shrinking potion.

Suddenly, Lily saw a tear drop onto the diary page. She was crying. She knew she had a lot of feelings bottled up. But, instead of investing all her gold in Gringotts into a Pensive, she decided to get rid of them the Muggle way.

She pulled out a quill and a bottle of ink, and began to write. She wrote about everything that had happened since school had started: Her joy in becoming a Prefect, and what that responsibility meant; her anger when James pulled out her chair; her content when she got back at him. She recorded everything up to the anger and frustration of the past few moments. 

God! I just hate James! I don't know who he thinks he is. Who in his or her right mind would dye somebody's hair green? It's so immature! Although, I suppose immature is the only word to describe the marauders. 

I just can't believe Remus is a werewolf. This whole time, no one ever knew. But he and his little friends have been sneaking around the school all this year as Anamangi. Stupid, _stupid_ thing to do!

But then Belle rapped on the door, and peeked her head inside. Lily immediately shoved her diary under her pillow.

"James told me what happened… and I'm sorry." Belle sighed. She came over and sat down on the bed next to Lily. "Are you okay?"

"I guess so." Lily sighed, sitting up and leaning against her friend. Belle put an arm around her and gave her a tight hug.

"James can be so dumb. He's very inconsiderate." Belle said sharply. Lily sorted.

"You're just saying that because you think that's what I want to hear." She smiled. "You think he's cute."

"Now I won't deny that!" Belle laughed. "But he really can be quite thick. I'm serious!" Belle said. 

"Okay…" Lily chuckled. "You're too much, you know that?" 

"Sorry!" Belle said. "I just can't help myself. I'm a regular Sirius Black, aren't I?!" 

"In the makings." Lily sighed. "Don't know if that's a good thing…"

"If he'd grow up a little, it would be." 

"Sure." Lily said. "I'm going to bed."

"What about your hair?!" Belle said, astonished. "Don't you want Madison and I to finish?" Belle took her wand out of her pocket. Lily thought for a moment, but then a _why should you care?_ flashed across her brain.

"No, that's okay. We'll finish later. I've decided I really don't care." Lily said, smiling, and crawling under her covers. 

"Now _that's_ the Lily I know and love!" Belle said. "I'll tuck you in, okay?" Belle chuckled. She pulled the covers up to Lily's chin and closed her bed hangings. "Nighty night." 

Lily listened Belle's footsteps walk out of the room, and heard the door click shut. She suddenly realized that with friends like Arabella Figg, there was really no need for parents… whether uncaring like hers or not.

**Chapter 9**

**Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff**

The next week flew by in a blaze of homework. Before Lily could even catch her breath, the Quidditch season was rearing up and ready to begin. The first match was set to take place on Saturday, and Gryffindor couldn't be more excited. Everyone was hoping on a Gryffindor victory. They hadn't won the Quidditch Cup in over 5 years, and they desperately wanted to win.

The Hufflepuff team was always said to be a pushover, but this year, they had a new captain. Amos Diggory was seventh year and on his last chance to bring Hufflepuff the Cup. Lily almost felt bad for the Hufflepuffs: They rarely got any of the Hogwarts glory and were always shoved aside when it came to competitions. 

But regardless of who deserved the winning of the first match, everyone was incredibly excited. Unfortunately, the conditions for the game wouldn't be too good. Last week's wind had carried on though this week, and players feared they might be blown off course.

Lily, Belle, and Madison walked down the stadium with a happy spring in their step. Lily's hair was red again, so this only added to her weekend joy.

A terrifying wind suddenly sneaked up behind them and blew their hair and cloaks every which way. 

"Jesus!" Madison muttered, trying to put her hair back into place. 

"Oh! Over here!" Lily squeaked, pointing to seats perfectly stationed looking out at the center of the field. 

"Okay everyone!" Remus' voice was magnified to commentate the match. It filled the stadium and was greeted with applause. "Please take your seats… the match will begin momentarily."

After a few seconds, he began again. "And now, ladies and gentlemen! The team you've been waiting for: I give you, the Hufflepuff team! Captain Diggory, Ashonel, Piggen, McGregor, Franamo, Sherry, and their fantastic Seeker: Brachium!" The Hufflepuff team flew onto the field. All his or her supporters were clapping madly- everyone else was just applauding politely.

"And now- the team you've _really_ been waiting for! The Gryffindors! I give you Captain Jaime Marcus; her shocking Beaters: Sirius Black and Frank Donahue; her superb Chasers: Erica Trancy, Rachel Lang, and Harold Jay; and of course, the best Seeker we've seen this century: _James Potter!_" The Gryffindor team flew nervously into the stadium, smiling broadly. Half of the crowd brandished rosettes and flags of scarlet and cheered at the top of their lungs. James and Sirius waved appreciatively. 

"And here comes Madam Hooch- the referee of today's match. The Bludgers and the Golden Snitch are let loose. Remember, the Snitch is worth 150 points, and will end the game if caught. And- be ready teams- the Quaffle is tossed!" Sure enough, in a rush of scarlet and yellow, the bright red Quaffle could be seen.

"The Quaffle is taken right away by Lang of Gryffindor. Oh! Narrow miss by a Bludger there… she dodges Sherry… and she shoots- oh yes! She scores! 10 points for Gryffindor! Amazing flying there!"

Lily watched the excitement on the edge of her seat. The players were zooming around the field passing the Quaffle, scooting past players and Bludgers, and doing anything they could to get to the Quaffle.

She glanced up at the two Seekers. James was circling the stadium, his eyes squinting for any sign of gold. Kayla Brachium was watching James with interest, hoping he would lead her to the Snitch. And soon enough, James shot down in a neck-breaking dive. 

"- And I believe Mr. Potter has spotted the Snitch! Already!" Remus cheered.

Lily watched as James face screwed into concentration. Brachium was too far behind to matter. He stretched out his hand, licked his lip, and just as the ground was coming up to meet him, he yanked his broom up with a huge grin on his face. Madam Hooch blew her whistle.

"And that's all, folks! Game over! Gryffindor wins 160-0. How very embarrassing for Hufflepuff…" Remus said happily. All the Gryffindor students were hopping up and down, screaming and cheering. 

"Potter! Potter! Potter!" Some kids shouted in admiration. Lily- along with all the other students- couldn't help but be impressed with James' record-breaking capture of the golden Snitch.

James, Sirius and the rest of the Gryffindor team were welcomed back to the common room with a feast of food and candies stolen from the kitchens. 

Everyone celebrated until McGonagall came into the common room around 6:00 at night telling everyone to shut up.

So the Gryffindors calmed down, and returned sadly to their studies. Lily had stopped her partying several hours ago. What with the homework she had been given, it would have been stupid not to get a head start. But she had found it very hard to concentrate. 

"Howdy, Lily." Sirius said, plopping himself down in an armchair next to hers.

"What do you want?" 

"Didn't you even come to the game? I noticed you've been in this corner almost all night." Sirius laughed. "Studies _can_ take a break you know."

"Of course I came to the match." Lily scoffed. "And I'm very pleased we won, and that James caught the snitch in under five minutes..."

"I see." Sirius said. "Whatcha readin'?" He asked, trying to grab the book out of her hands. Unfortunately, he succeeded, and began flipping through the pages while looking at the book upside down as though he'd never seen a book in his life.

"Give that back!" Lily said hotly. "It's for my homework…"

"_Anamangi 101_? This isn't for homework…" Sirius said suspiciously. "We studied Anamangi in our third year." Then comprehension seemed to slide onto his face. "You're reading up on us… aren't you?"

"What? No!" Lily lied. "Now give it back!"

"Don't tell me you're trying to become an Anamangus, too?" Sirius chuckled. "Aw, this' priceless! What animal are you going to be then?" Lily couldn't help but think about how thick Sirius was to think _she_ wanted to break the law and become an Anamangus.

"Firstly, are you _kidding_ me?!" Lily groaned. "I do _not_ want to be an Anamangus. And I won't deny it; I _am_ reading up on you. I won't sit back and let my friends get-"

"So now we're your friends?" Sirius asked seriously. "I always thought you hated us. And in my book, friends don't hate each other." 

"Okay fine. We're not friends. I won't let my _acquaintances_ get thrown into Azkaban just because they want to be friends with a… well, a werewolf." Lily said, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"The muraders can pick their own friends, thanks." Sirius snapped. "Look, you really confuse us sometimes."

"How do _I_ confuse _you?_" Lily asked coldly. "I'm not the one playing two sides like James."

"James? How is he playing-? Never mind." Sirius sighed. "You just act like our friend, then go pull something like _this_." He said, waving the Anamangus book.

"It's the same with all of you!" Lily said angrily. "You pretend that everything's just _hunky-dory_…then you… _dye my hair green_!!"

"Yeah, James said you were pissed about that." 

"_James_ said I was pissed?" Lily repeated, anger dripping on every consonant. "Well, I suppose whatever _James_ says goes, am I right?"

"No… I never said that!" Sirius said harshly. "You know, I reckon James was right about you. He said you were an air-head who only thought about your own best interest." 

"See?! James again!" Lily shouted. She leaped up, and snatched her book out of Sirius' hands. "I _told_ you. He's the ringleader of your whole motley crew. You just don't want to believe it. He's constantly telling you and everyone else what to do and what to think, isn't he? But he's your best friend in the whole damn world, so you don't really care! But, if you were to disappear off the face of the earth, do you _really_ think he'd be lost and lonely for long? Oh no! He'd find your replacement before you could say 'Quidditch!'" 

And with that said, she scooped up her bag and pieces of parchment, and walked up the stairs. She knew that most of what she said probably wasn't true at all. James would most likely be in tears if Sirius were to vanish off the planet- and he wouldn't be quick to find a replacement. 

She felt horrible about saying those things to Sirius. Sure, he'd never been her knight in shining armor or anything close to it- but he'd never really meant any harm. Not to her or anybody.

Madison suddenly opened the dormitory door. 

"Hey Lil…" She said softly. "I, er, couldn't help but overhear what happened. Is everything okay?"

"Yes! Why wouldn't it be?!" Lily shouted.

"Calm yourself, Lil!" Madison urged. "Tell me what happened."

For a moment, Lily thought about telling her the muraders' secret- as well as Remus'. But she couldn't bring herself to start.

"I can't." Lily murmured. "I just can't."

"Okay. I understand." Madison sighed. Lily couldn't help but notice she looked like she had been denied a real treat as she left the room. But she didn't care.

Her head was swimming with everything that had happened. What with Sirius, James, Remus being a werewolf, homework, and Prefect meetings becoming more and more frequent, she could hardly stand it.

Lily pulled her diary out of her pillowcase, and started to write again. She found it was such a relief to express everything she was feeling on paper. Even though it was just some Muggle thing, it really helped her get a grip on life in general.

I don't know what to do with myself. I don't think I've ever been so stressed. And I still have to get back at the Marauders for the green hair prank. (That was so annoying) I think I should do something embarrassing. Maybe I won't even need magic… wait! Something involving pajamas… _footie _pajamas! Perfect!

Lily smiled to herself as she concocted a brilliant plan on how to repay James for the green hair. This revenge would be sweet. Adrienne leapt up onto the bed and Lily stroked him gently. She carefully put her diary under her pillow again, and drifted to sleep, still petting her cat.


	6. Teaming with Black & Masquerade & Lily's...

**Chapter 10**

**Teaming With Black**

The next morning, Lily came down the stairs and heard loud shouts. She couldn't quite hear what was going on, so she walked faster. When she entered the common room, she saw James and Sirius standing about 10 feet apart, yelling at each other.

"You're always telling us what to do!" Sirius shouted. "You're like… our little ringleader or something!"

"Padfoot, don't be thick! You just insulted yourself, as well as me." James tried to reason. "Besides, if you would step up to the plate, I wouldn't have to be the 'ringleader'!"

"Oh, shut up! You're always the one to plan the pranks and jokes! Common Prongs! How much attention do you have to grab for yourself?!" Sirius shouted. Lily couldn't help but wonder who Prongs and Padfoot were, and what they had to do with anything.

"Well, then." James said angrily. "I guess this' it."

"What's it?" Sirius spat.

"This is the end, I suppose." James said. He almost seemed sad. "To be honest, I don't know what's gotten into you." But then his attitude changed entirely. "But you've always been such a God-damned, predictable, fool, I'm not surprised!"

"Well fine." Sirius said. "If that's how you want it, you got it! Think of it as a final favor."

"I'll be shocked if you can survive without me!" James scoffed. "Well, hang on now… you'll probably find a replacement. You're always so good at that- at least when it comes to girls."

Sirius almost broke into a smile. "Are you calling yourself a girl?"

"How immature!" James shouted, as his face reddened as he noticed his mistake. "I _don't_ need you! I've got Moony and Wormtail! You've just got your lousy Hufflepuff girlfriend- if she'll forgive you for our team beating her's." Moony and Wormtail? What the heck?

"Hey! Don't call Lisa lousy!"

"Lousy Lisa! It almost rhymes!" James cheered. 

"You'd better shut up." Sirius growled.

"Lousy Lisa and Stupid Sirius. A match made in heaven, isn't it?" James sneered. Lily wasn't fooled by the look of frustration on James' face like Sirius was. She knew he was upset. 

"FINE!" Sirius screamed.

"Yeah. Fine!" James yelled, pushing past Sirius and out the portrait hole. A ringing silence fell over the empty common room. Sirius collapsed onto the floor, his face in his hands.

"Sirius?" Lily said softly. His head shot up, and stared at Lily.

"What did you hear?" He said sharply.

"Nothing!" Lily said quickly. "Well, a lot…" She sighed.

"He's such a jerk." Sirius said hatefully. "You were right."

"What? Me?" Lily said. "_I_ caused this fight?"

"Well, not directly." Sirius said, staring at the ground. Lily moved cautiously toward him, and put her hand awkwardly on his shoulder.

"You didn't mean any of that, did you?" She said softly. "All that about not wanting to be friends anymore, I mean."

"Who says I didn't?" He shouted defensively.

"Okay, whatever you say." Lily sighed. "Are you all right, though?"

"Yeah!" Sirius said sarcastically, smiling falsely. "Never better! I feel renewed and independent."

"I'm sure." Lily said in disbelieving undertone. But then Lily thought of her prank for James. "Hey, do you want to get back at him?"

"Why?"

"Let's just say I've had a brilliant idea, but I need help executing it." Lily grinned. "Up for the challenge?"

"Why don't you get Madison or Belle to assist you?"

"Well," Lily began. Why didn't she? "Because you look pretty pathetic right now, and I'm feeling generous." She said- and he did look pretty pathetic, so she wasn't _really_ lying.

"I appreciate it." Sirius groaned, smiling. "So, what's the brilliant plan, then?"

Later that evening, Lily and Sirius were ready to perform their ultimate prank. Sirius had helped with the most important part, and now all that was left now was the laughter. 

The two of them waited in the busy common room, sitting side by side on the couch facing the portrait hole. James should be back from the Prefect washroom at any moment. Lily grinned as she fingered James' Hogwarts uniform Sirius stole from the washroom. 

"You'll never guess what I just saw!" A second year boy said, bursting into the common room. "It's James Potter!"

"We've seen James hundreds of times!" Another second year shouted. 

"Not like this, you haven't!" The boy said, bursting into laughter. "Here he comes!"

Sure enough, James came into the common room wearing footie pajamas covered in little bunnies. The whole common room burst into laughter and James' face turned as scarlet as Lily's hair.

"Do these look familiar?" Sirius shouted, whipping James' robes out of Lily's hands and waving them in front of the Gryffindors.

"Sirius…" James muttered angrily. "How could you?!"

"You're such a loser, James! I think this look suits you!" Sirius shouted. The common room laughed again.

James pulled out his wand and shouted, "_Rissumpen Libertia!"_

Suddenly, large donkey ears sprouted on Sirius' head and a long tail popped out his lower back.

"You can't even turn me into a proper donkey, James!" Sirius said, faking a laugh.

"Hey! I guess you're just too much of a jackass already! It's not my fault!" James shouted. He turned harshly revealing a bunny tail on his bottom and he sprinted up the boys' steps.

"Here Sirius…" Lily said, muttering the counter curse. 

"Thanks." He murmured. "I just can't stand this." 

"Stand what? Having a donkey tail?"

"No!" Sirius said. "Losing James."

"So go apologize." Lily suggested. "It wouldn't kill you, you know."

"He'd think I was going soft or something. I couldn't…" Sirius said softly.

"What is it with guys? Why are you always worried about going soft?" Lily scolded. "Just go talk to him!"

"Okay… but if I come out with an elephant trunk, it's your fault." Sirius joked.

"I think I'll survive with the guilt." Lily laughed.

"And Lily…"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." Sirius said, smiling. Lily watched him disappear up the dormitory steps. 

Sirius came back down the stairs with a spring in his step and a grin on his face. He approached Lily and sat down next to her.

"Well, he forgave me." He sighed happily. 

"That's good. And no elephant trunk in sight, I see." Lily replied. "And did _he_ apologize for what he said to you?"

"Yeah, he did." Sirius said. "See? James isn't _that_ bad, is he?"

"Er… I _guess_ not." Lily lied. 

"But, um…" Sirius hesitated. "He _didn't_ forgive you."

"What are you talking about? I didn't apologize for anything!" Lily exclaimed. "I don't regret anything I said or did this year."

"Well, he's pretty pissed off about that PJ prank." Sirius said uncomfortably. "And I mean _really_ pissed."

"So?"

"Well, I just thought I'd warn you. I mean, you don't want James as your enemy… or any of the muraders, come to think of it." Sirius shrugged. "And he's plotting revenge."

"Of course he is!" Lily laughed. "Why wouldn't he?"

"I don't know!" Sirius grinned. "You know, James was actually wrong about you. You're not too shabby, Lil."

"Er, you're not too shabby yourself." Lily said, giggling. "So I guess you'll be in on his prank?"

"Nope. Not this time, at least." Sirius said. "I owe you one." He shrugged.

"Why? I'm the one who caused your argument in the first place…"

"Not really." Sirius said. "I mean, sure you brought his faults to my attention- but you've just proved to us that we have a stronger friendship than we thought."

"I guess that's a good thing then…"

"Yeah. I'd say so." He shrugged. 

Lily was shocked she was actually having a decent conversation with Sirius Black. She always thought he was just some goof ball who didn't care about anything but laughter, but she was wrong. He actually cared about friendship and trust. He wasn't some troublemaker waiting for his next detention… okay, so maybe he was- but there was more to him than that.

"Well, thanks for the warning!" Lily chuckled. "And I really am sorry about those things I said to you the other night. It was none of my business, and I'll try to butt out- it won't be easy, but I'll try!" She joked.

"God! If you acted like this around James you two would get along great!" Sirius laughed. "Although, I guess you think _he's_ the one who has to shape up or ship out, right?"

"Well…" She paused as Sirius laughed. "Yes, I do."

"That's what I thought." He said. "I'm off to bed. And Lily?"

"Uh huh?"

"Thanks again. You really are cooler than some people think." Sirius hesitated, but then gave her a quick hug. "I appreciate what you did."

"I still don't know how I helped… but you're welcome." Lily said, caught off guard by his hug. He pulled away, winked, and headed up to his dormitory again.

**Chapter 11**

**The Masquerade**

Before Lily and all the other Prefects were really ready, November 15 arrived. They were all pulled out of classes early that afternoon so they could prepare.

"Right." McGonagall said. "There's a lot to be done, and only a few hours to do it. Hufflepuff Prefects: you're in charge of diner… go down the kitchen and oversee the House Elves. Make sure they understand the menu." Jonathan and Cindy nodded in understanding and hurried out of the hall.

"Okay, Ravenclaw: I want you to go decorate the grounds. You'll find decorations in Filch's broom closet in the hall just outside…" McGonagall said. With that, Brad and Stephanie left the Grand Hall.

"And that leaves Slytherin and Gryffindor: decorate the Grand Hall and the Entrance Hall. Slytherin, I also want you to pass out the masks when the time comes. Everyone understand? Excellent!" McGonagall said and she left the hall to assist Brad and Stephanie outside.

"Well, I guess I'll go get the decorations?" James suggested. 

"Er, I'll help, if you want…" Lily said. He just shrugged, so she followed him out of the Hall and over by the broom closet. 

"Here they are!" Lily said as cheerfully as possible. She struggled to pull down a large, heavy box of fabrics and streamers. 

"I'll take it…" James said, trying to pull the box out of her hands.

"No, I've got it…" Lily persisted. But with their efforts to pull the box out of the other's hands, it fell to the closet floor, spilling the contents everywhere.

"Great…" Lily murmured.

"Well if you'd just accept help sometimes-" James began.

"What's taking you so long?!" Lucius asked, shoving his way into the closet. 

"The box broke." James said shortly. He piled the things back into the box and Lucius and Lily grabbed two more.

They reentered the Hall to see Haley primping herself looking in a pocket sized mirror. 

"Geeze. We have to get started! Stop fooling around in closets." She commanded. "Now, I'm thinking we should hang this emerald one over the staff table…"

"They're all emerald." James said hotly.

"This long one, then." Haley said. "Chop chop! Hang it up!" She said. James, Lily, and Lucius pulled out their wands and levitated the banner over to the Head Table where they then magicked it to the wall.

"Aren't you going to help? Or just tell us what to do?" Lily asked Haley.

"Um, tell you what to do." Haley said harshly, pulling out a nail file. 

"Okay." Lily rolled her eyes. "Where to with this one, then?"

"Over the fireplace." Haley said. James shook his head, but pulled off his robe and rolled up his gray sleeves.

When all the fabrics were hung, the Hall looked a lot softer, in Lily's opinion. But Haley wasn't finished.

"Okay, now you need to clear away those tables. Quickly!" She instructed. With Lily, James, and Lucius together, they could rise the table and move them into another chamber just off the Hall. "Then the little ones need to be moved." 

Each person- with the exception of Haley- moved the little 4-person tables exactly where Haley told them.

"Whew!" Lucius exclaimed, mopping his brow. "I'm exhausted!"

"So sit down, Lucius!" Haley squealed, and she pulled out a chair for him right next to her. "Well,_Gryffindors_? What are you waiting for? Put on the table cloths!"

"Whatever you say, highness!" James muttered, as he magically pulled the cloths out of the box and spread them delicately on the table.

Soon, the Hall was decorated- thanks to Lily and James. Malfoy and Haley did nothing but flirt at the tables. 

"Can you believe them?" James muttered as he and Lily lit the floating candles. "We did _everything!_ You'd think they could at least help with setting up the stage for Gina Pentium! But no! They can't even levitate a candle for us, let alone lift a finger."

"Really!" Lily agreed. "And the way she says Gryffindor… like we're scum or something." 

"To her we are. '_Gryffindors!'_ Please!" He sorted. 

"Well, Haley," Lily said loudly over her shoulder. "We finished with the candles! Anything else?" 

"No… I think we're done! I must admit, I did a fantastic job!" Haley said, beaming and looking around the unrecognizable Hall. "Worthy of House Points, I'd say!"

"You can't assign yourself points… and you didn't even help!" James shouted. He was gripping his wand tightly, itching to cast a hex. Lily put her hand on his wand arm.

"Don't…" She said so only he could hear. "It's what she wants…"

"Whatever. See you all at the Ball." James said hotly, snatching his arm out of her grasp and storming out of the room.

"Odd boyfriend you've got there, Lily. Seriously mental." Lucius muttered.

"He's _not_ my boyfriend." Lily snapped. And she too stormed out of the Hall. She could hear the Slytherin's laughter all the way up to her common room.

"Well?!" Madison asked excitedly when Lily arrived. "What's it going to be like? James wouldn't say."

"Well, then I won't either." Lily said. "We're not supposed to tell you. But you'll like it, I swear."

"Let's go get ready… we've only got an hour!" Belle said anxiously, pulling the girls up the steps. 

The three of them emerged at 5:00 at the top of the Entrance Hall steps dressed beautifully. Lily wore her best dress- long, black and deep red that sparkled when she moved that ended in a large bell skirt. Belle was very pleased with how Lily's hair had turned out: she had curled it so it tumbled down her back in ringlets. Lily felt different- she felt gorgeous.

When they reached the doors, Lucius handed her a black mask made of velvet and encrusted with black jewels. Lily wasn't sure if they were real or not, but they were pretty all the same. 

She fastened it around her head, and smiled. No one would know who she was until midnight. It gave her a shocking sense of freedom. Lily could talk to whomever she wanted, and they wouldn't know it was she. She could say anything, and no one could care. 

Lily strolled daintily into the perfectly lit Hall. She noticed a few heads turned as she, Belle and Madison walked into the room. Madison adjusted her purple dress and fixed her glittering crown nervously, as she seated herself next to Belle. 

"Calm down, Madison!" Belle whispered. But she didn't look too calm herself. She twirled her black curls tightly around her finger, and smoothed her lacy, light pink dress. 

"Calm down, yourself." Madison snapped. Lily chuckled.

"No one's going to know who you are… why are you all so uptight?" Lily said, straightening her mask as a group of boys in brightly colored robes past by. "No one will know who you are until midnight."

"Yeah, but I feel like they can all see right through my mask…" Belle said. "Not that I have anything to hide… it's just, well, you know."

"Whatever." Lily sighed. "Diner will be starting any moment." And as soon as she said this, their small table was filled with every sort of food. The selection of foods was so much more than their usual choices.

When the food had been licked off their plates, they vanished, and music began. People clapped appreciatively as Gina Pentium took the stage. 

"Why didn't you tell us _she_ was coming?!" Madison squeaked, as she too clapped loudly. "She's SO fantastic."

"We weren't allowed to say…" Lily muttered. But her eyes slowly ventured towards the table of boys that had past by earlier. They were all whispering excitedly and pointing towards their table. Suddenly, one of the boys dressed in dark blue robes stood up. He fidgeted with his black mask for a second, then turned back to his table, talking rapidly. 

One of the boys dressed in green shoved the blue robed boy and he stumbled to the three girls' table.

"Hi." Belle said, smoothing her dress again. "How are you?"

"I'm okay…" The boy said. Lily could detect a slight tone of nerves in his voice. "Er, do you wanna dance?" He asked Lily. So he had been talking about her.

"Yeah! Sure." Lily said. She stood up as gracefully as humanly possible, and placed her hand on his arm. "Let's go." 

The song Gina was playing faded into a waltz, and Lily and the boy began to dance. 

"Nice event, huh?" The boy said. "I wish we could have something like this every year." 

"Yeah." Lily said, glad the boy had started conversation. "I'm glad the Prefects are good at this kind of thing." She replied, thinking of her and James setting up the candles, tables, and everything else in the Hall.

"Very lucky." The boy said. "So, what house are you in?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you, now am I?" Lily grinned. "But, I'll break the rule this once: Gryffindor." And the moment she said it, she regretted telling him. What if he turned out to be some freak who followed her around constantly? Or what if he was in her house, and there was no way to avoid him?

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"Me? Lie?" Lily said, relieved. At least it was a possibility that he wouldn't believe a word she said. "Why don't you guess what house I'm in then?"

"All right…" He said, pulling her a little closer. "You could be in Hufflepuff, because you seem honest and true… and beautiful…"

"I don't remember beautiful being in the Hufflepuff description, but thank you." Lily muttered, blushing to match her dress. "And what about you? What house are you in?"

"I could be in Gryffindor as well, or maybe Slytherin, because I think of myself as being sneaky…" The boy replied.

"Oh, do you?" Lily laughed. "I guess I'll have some thinking to do as the night goes on, but I'll guess your house in time."

With that, the song ended with a dramatic thunder of drums. Lily made to curtsy and walk back to her table, but the boy stopped her.

"One more?" He pleaded. "Please?"

"Okay…" She said, smiling to herself. Now if only more boys could be like _this._ "So, what did you think of that Quidditch game a few days ago? Pretty great huh?" 

Then the boy smiled. "I never met a girl who was interested in Quidditch before."

"Well, I'm one of a kind." She said, grinning. "Did you get a chance to see the World Cup?" The boy smiled again and launched into a full-scale story about the Quidditch World Final. Most people would find this boring, but not Lily; she hung on the boy's every word of how the players dove, hit and scored.

"That sounds amazing!" Lily said, thinking back on how Iceland scored the winning goal. 

"It really was." The boy smiled. "Let's go for a walk." He suggested as the song came to an end. 

"Sure." Lily said, and she took his arm and he led her outside. She was instantly impressed with the Ravenclaw Prefects' work. There were rose bushes everywhere, glittering with lights, and the sound of trickling water from a fountain could be heard somewhere in the distance.

"Someday, I'm gonna see the world, just like the Quidditch players. Watch the birds, and travel wherever they go." The boy said suddenly. "I'll go everywhere! See it all."

"I want to travel too!" Lily exclaimed. "I'll go to Tahiti, Tibet, and San Diego…"

"Brazil, Italy, Rome, Spain, France…"

"The Wild West, Australia, Japan, China…"

"India, America- everywhere!" The boy said. "That's pretty weird."

"What's weird?" Lily asked. "That we both want to travel?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "My friends don't really care much about that stuff. But as soon as I graduate, I'm outta here… off to all those great places. My life will be battered old trunks and suitcases… utterly fantastic!"

"Sounds great." Lily said. "My parents would never pay for me to see the world. I wish they would."

"My parents will. As long as I get through Hogwarts with good grades, they promised they'd let me." The boy said, sitting down on a bench and staring off into space. "I can't wait." 

"Wow. You sure are lucky." Lily sighed. If only she could travel like this boy could. In another year, he would be living her dream.

"I bet you could do whatever you set your mind to. You could probably convince your parents to let you go. You have to stretch your wings sometime." The boy said. "You seem like the kind of person who doesn't let people like that stand in your way."

The boy was still clutching her hand, and their conversation faded into silence. Lily looked out across the grounds to a few people who were laughing and heading over to the lake.

"Who are you? Please tell me." The boy asked out of nowhere. 

"Let's just take off the masks. It's starting to bother me anyway." Lily suggested. She reached behind her head to untie the mask, but was unable to. "The knot's stuck… can you…?"

"Sure." The boy said, and he gently tried to untie the ribbon, but couldn't. "I'll try mine." He said. But again, he couldn't.

"I guess the Prefects bewitched them." Lily shrugged. Suddenly she wondered if she wanted this boy to know her identity. But when he touched her arm softly, and moved in to kiss her, Lily knew she did.

Their mouths were inches from each other when someone came streaking across the grounds towards them.

"Hey!" Lily recognized it to be Madison. "I need you!"

"What is it?" Lily asked, pulling away from the boy quickly. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

"NO!" Madison shrieked. "Here's what happened: I danced with this fat kid just to be nice, right? Well, now he thinks I like him… and he won't leave me alone! He's following me everywhere! Midnight is 15 minutes away, and I'm _not_ letting him find out who I am."

"Okay… but why do you need me?"

"Just come on! If I have you with me, it doesn't look like I'm avoiding him- even though I am. Please?!" Madison begged. "Come back to the dormitory with me?! Quickly!"

Lily turned to the boy. "I'm so sorry… I have to go…"

"Wait, don't go…" He said.

"I have to… I'm sorry the night ended this way… thank you…" Lily moaned. Madison grabbed her hand and began to yank her away from the boy. Just as they were about to run through the door, Lily heard the boy shouting after her.

"I don't even know your name!" He yelled.

"I'm so sorry!" She shouted as Madison slammed the heavy double doors closed. 

"Oh shit! Here he comes!" Madison muttered. "Walk faster…" And sure enough, a pudgy boy dressed in blood red robes came dashing after Madison calling for her.

"Hey! Wait up!" The boy in red yelled.

"Oh!" Madison said, turning to face the boy. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you calling me." Instantly, Lily realized who this chubby boy was. It was Peter Petigrew.

"Oh, well, do you care to dance again? It's almost midnight, then I can find out who you are…" Peter said. "And you can find out who I am, of course."

"That sounds so nice." Madison said sweetly. "But, my friend here has a big emotional problem." She nodded to Lily. "She needs to be brought back up to our dormitory as soon as possible. I'm sorry."

"Oh." Peter said, sounding disappointed. "All right. Well, I hope your friend feels better. Maybe we'll see each other again another time… if we can find each other again…"

"I'm sorry." Madison said, faking a sob. "Come along, dear." She said, pulling Lily up the marble steps. "Hurry…" She added in an undertone so Peter wouldn't hear. 

When they got back up to the dormitory, Lily was very upset. Now she would never be able to find that boy again. She didn't know his name, his house… anything. All she knew was that he liked Quidditch and wanted to travel. Not much use for trying to track someone down. She felt like Cinderella.

"Sorry I took you away from that guy." Madison said as Lily dressed into her nightclothes. "I just don't think I could stand to have that guy hanging all over me all the time."

"It's okay I guess…" Lily sighed. "But why couldn't you have asked Belle?" 

"Well, she was… busy with some boy dressed in purple." Madison giggled. "They were having a 'moment'."

"She didn't kiss him, did she?"

"Not in so many words…"

"What happened?" Lily begged. "Tell me!"

"They were just dancing, and holding hands, and looking at each other all lovey-dovey. It kinda made me sick." Madison chuckled.

"Oh." Lily said. "Did she find out who he was?" 

"I don't know." Madison said, placing her dress in the closet. "Why?"

"Well, the boy I was with was talking to a guy in purple… I thought he might know who he was…" Lily confessed.

"You really liked him, didn't you?"

"He seemed really nice." Lily said. "We shared a lot of the same interests. He wants to travel too, you know."

"Is that all?" Madison said. "Just traveling?"

"He was very passionate about his plans and where he wanted to go in life." Lily said. "He seemed to believe in me, and he hardly even knew me. And he was so easy to talk to."

"That's a good quality…" Madison said.

"Yeah."

"I'm going to bed. G'night." 

"Yeah… sleep well." Lily said, and she pulled her covers up to her chin, and drifted into slumber.  

**Chapter 12**

**Lily's Big Shock**

The next morning, everyone was buzzing with information about his or her evening with tall, dark, strangers or beautiful girls that they didn't catch the names of. Belle was very pleased with herself and her evening, but sadly didn't discover whom she had spent the whole evening with. Lily was still angry that she had let Madison pull her away, just when it was so close to midnight.

Some girls went around school bragging about what they had worn to the ball, hoping boys would remember them. Sirius Black pretended he knew exactly who all these girls were, and played them all like chess pawns. But, when he didn't know what the girl was talking about, it gave him away. He would be slapped, and sent off to try to find another girl.

Remus also seemed to have had a good time. He was one of the few who found the girl he had spent time with. So now, he had a girlfriend by the name of Penelope Frebush. 

Peter was totally devastated at the loss of the gorgeous girl dressed in the purple. Lily didn't tell him that his long lost love was actually Madison.

Surprisingly, James wasn't up to his usual speed. But the answer for this came at dinner.

"I met this fantastic girl…" James replied to Remus. "She was perfect, I swear." He stared absentmindedly at his goblet of pumpkin juice.

"What did she wear?" Remus asked.

"A long black and red dress." James sighed. "And a black mask." 

From a few seats away, Lily started. Black and red? _She_ wore black and red… but of course, other girls could have worn those colors, right?

"What house was she in?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know, she wouldn't tell me." James said. "She said Gryffindor… but she might have been joking." 

Lily gulped. Could _James_ be the boy? The idea seemed impossible…

"What were you wearing again?" Remus asked. "I didn't see you much."

"Blue, remember?" James said impatiently. "But that's besides the point…"

"What hair color did she have?" Peter wondered.

"Red… like Lily's…" James said drifting off and turning to stare at Lily who was now staring at him. "No way… it _couldn't_ have been _you_…"

"I don't believe it… you… we… ugh!" They both said, making a face and turning away from each other. 

"Disgusting…" Lily murmured under her breath. "Totally disgusting…" Belle chuckled.

"Found your Prince Charming, have you?" She teased.

"Hardly." Lily frowned, looking after James. "There's no way it was him. The boy I met was so much… _better_ than that."

"How many red-heads are there at Hogwarts?" Belle reasoned. "Just face the music… you were dancing with James."

"There could be more girls with red hair… you never know. But it's impossible for James to be that civilized boy I met…" Lily shook her head.

"Maybe there's more to James Potter than you give him credit for." Belle suggested. 

"More than I give him credit for? Oh please! I'm not the one who only looks out for their best interest. It's not my fault that girls are just a game piece in his master plan." Lily snapped.

"But you let him play you, Lily." Madison said. "You walk into his traps every time."

"What are you talking about?"

"He plays a prank… you play one back. It's his freakish cycle." Madison shrugged.

"A cycle? You think defending myself is a part of his _cycle?_" Lily said angrily. "And I do not let him play me."

"Whatever. Forget I said anything." Madison sighed. "Sorry your sweet princewasn't who you hoped he'd be, but wasn't that the point of it being a Masquerade Ball? So you could see sides to people you didn't see before?"

"No!" Lily moaned. "The point of it was-"

"To learn to like people for their personality, not looks or who's popular and who's not." Belle interrupted. "Although, I'd say Madison forgot about that little aspect, and let looks get in the way…"

"Shut up." Madison snapped. "It's not my fault I'm such a great person. He was freaky: following me everywhere, asking to dance with me every time a song played, and getting me punch when I wasn't even thirsty… and he was _fat_."

"The only downside to that description was that he was fat." Belle sighed. "I however, had a great time. But I still have to find that guy…"

"What did he wear?" Lily asked politely.

"Purple." Belle said. "and he was really funny."

"Purple?" Sirius said, leaning around James and Remus. "_I_ wore purple!"

"Sure, Si." Belle said. "I hear you also wore red, green, orange, and yellow. And one girl told me you even wore hot pink…"

"Cotton candy pink, actually…" Sirius grinned. "But seriously, I wore purple. What did you wear?"

"Lingerie." Belle snapped. "Bright red. Couldn't miss me!" 

"No, really…"

"Light pink dress." Belle sighed. "What's it to you?"

"I danced with a girl in pink almost all night…" Sirius said. "We talked about roast beef and house elves…"

"Roast beef and house elves?" Lily repeated in disbelief. "Where did you come up with that?"

"Oh my God!" Belle shrieked. "It _was_ you!"

"Roast beef and house elves?" Madison asked. "What the heck? Who talks about roast beef and house elves?" But Belle was too excited to listen. 

"There's no way you could have known that, unless you were him… or he was you, or whatever… I wasn't sure if I'd find you again!" She said happily. But suddenly she slapped him across the face- hard. 

"What was that for?!" He shouted. "I thought you were happy to find me!" 

"That's for what you said to me last night… I didn't want to slap you until I knew who you were… but since it's _you_… I have no regrets." Belle said angrily, as she stood up and pulled Lily away from the table.

"What did he say to you?" She asked.

"Something _totally_ rude and disrespectful. I refuse to repeat it." Belle said hotly.

"Well, that's just Sirius. He wouldn't be, well, _Sirius_ if he wasn't rude and disrespectful." Lily shrugged.

"I guess not." Belle smiled. "Come on, let's play Exploding Snap or something."


	7. An Evening w Prongs & the Worst Morning ...

_Thanks to everyone who keeps reviewing! I love you guys! You're all so cool! LOL! Anyways, now that that's out of my system… Why do I keep posting so many chapters at a time, starborn? Just so I can be done with this story and move on to it's sequel, which I liked writing and my friends liked reading more than this one. Honestly, I think all of you will like it better too. So, THAT's why. But I'm so glad that you all like my story so much! Please, keep reviewing it! _

**Chapter 13**

**An Evening with Prongs**

The rest of November crept past in a hazy fog and a blast of icy wind. The chilly December weather was steadily growing colder, and Lily's holiday spirits were rising like the pale sun. To Lily's dismay, very few people signed up to say at Hogwarts over holiday break. Lily always signed up, because it was so much better than being at home with only Petunia for company. But Belle and Madison were both bubbling over with Christmas excitement and couldn't wait to return home to their families.

Professor McGonagall was one of the few teachers who did not lighten up on assignments and homework. But other than her, all the teachers were in a warm, Christmas mood. 

With a very heavy, lonely, heart Lily said goodbye to her friends as they all loaded into the horseless buggies and casually rolled away to the Hogsmeade train station. And, with even more sadness, Lily returned to the Gryffindor common room to curl up with a book and read until Christmas came around.

But, of course, the only Gryffindors who decided to stay behind were two quiet first years, and the muraders. Sirius seemed intent on ruining Lily and everyone else's holiday by letting off dung bombs, and running around the common room making noise. James was the only one who could calm him down long enough to make it count.

"It's Christmas Eve! It's Christmas Eve!" Sirius bellowed as he bounced down the dormitory stairs as though no one could hear him. "God, Lily! Could you be any more un-festive?" He said sadly, floping down on her lap, and shoving her book out of her hands.

"Sirius! Get the hell off me!" Lily yelled, pushing Sirius to the floor with a loud thump. "And I'm perfectly festive, without you sitting on me, thank you very much."

"Oh, come on, Lily. Not even a speck of green or red on you!" Sirius groaned, indicating his own red and green Christmas tree sweater. "Where's your Yule Tide Joy?" 

"All my Yule Joy upstairs in my trunk. And there it will stay." She snapped, grabbing her book off the floor and shoving her nose into it. Sirius chuckled, and adjusted himself on the floor.

"Remus is out 'sick' again…" Sirius said softly, looking around the deserted common room. "We're going to visit him tonight."

"And why are you telling me this? I might rat you out, remember?"

"I know you wouldn't do that." Sirius said practically. "Besides, maybe you could come too…"

"Me? I'm not an Anamangus like the rest of you law-breakers." Lily said, not looking up from her book. "I could get killed… and so could you."

"I'm not going to get started on that again." Sirius sighed. "We could protect you… you don't actually think James and I would let Moony bite you, do you?"

"Moony?" 

"Yeah, Remus." Sirius shrugged.

"I don't get it… do you all have nicknames or something?" Lily asked. "Whenever you talk about each other you give them strange names… like Moony, Rattail, softfoot…and what is it? Proogs?"

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs." Sirius corrected. "Yeah, it's our nicknames. Remus is Moony because of his…er, problems with the moon. Rats have a worm-like tail, hence Wormtail for Peter. Dogs have padded feet, right? So I'm Padfoot, and James is Prongs… because he just is." He shrugged. "It works, doesn't it?"

"Sure." Lily said. "It all makes sense now." 

"Well, I have to go get James in a holiday mood…Later." Sirius said, grinning evilly. 

"See you." Lily said, returning to her book.

A few hours later, McGonagall pulled Lily and James out of the common room and led them down to the kitchens. 

"Now, I know this is asking for a lot from the two of you, but you're the only one's I trust to do this. Instead of eating the Christmas feast in the Grand Hall, I need you to oversee the house elves." McGonagall replied, as she tickled a pear in a large painting of a bowl of fruit. The pear laughed, and the portrait swung open. 

"'S okay with me." James shrugged. "Why, though?"

"Well, Madam Morible of the Muggle Art class is sick, and this is usually her job. You two should feel very honored to take up this job, so in you go!" McGonagall said, shoving Lily inside and closing the door with a snap.

"Okay then…" Lily said. "What exactly are we supposed to do?" But before James could answer a large group of two foot high house elves approached them. Each one was dressed in a purple towel hung over their shoulders like a toga with the Hogwarts crest stamped on it in gold.

"Hello Sir and Miss!" One with a large, squashed, pink nose replied. "I is Minky. We is so happy to see you, sir and miss!" 

Lily and James exchanged looks.

"Please, take a seat! We is most pleased to have you here!" Minky replied, shoving James' knee causing him to tumble backwards into a chair that another elf was holding out. "Can us house elves get you something?" She asked, blinking her tennis ball sized blue eyes. 

"We can serve you anything!" Another shouted over Minky's shoulder. "Have some tea and eclairs!" The little elf handed Lily a large try, and pushed her into a chair.

"You is not needing to be doing anything! Us house elves have the Hogwarts feast under control." Minky replied, as another elf pushed past her to dump candies in James' lap. 

"I'm Lily Evans… and this is James Potter…" Lily spluttered as another elf tried to shove a cookie in her mouth. 

"Such a pleasure to meet you Lily Evans! And Mr. James Potter! Such a pleasure!" Minky cheered. She allowed herself to be shoved out of the way as more elves brought Lily and James food.

"Minky!" An elf hollered. "Siry is needing help! The tray is too heavy for little Siry!"

"So sorry, Mr. Potter and Miss. Evans. Minky must assist her fellow elves… the Hogwarts feast is about to begin!" Minky said shrilly and she left them. The other elves followed Minky away and Lily finally had a chance to look around the kitchen.

It was positioned directly beneath the Grand Hall and there were replica house tables laden with golden plates. All over the walls were shelves of spices, and soapy dishes. Some elves were tending to a huge fireplace in a far corner, and others were hovering over pots on the many stoves. Most elves were carrying the heavy trays of food over the long house tables' counterparts.

"Can we help?" Lily asked tentatively. But the she wished she hadn't the room went suddenly quiet. 

"Shouldn't have said that." James whispered.

"NO! No no no!" Minky hollered. "Mr. and Miss must sit! Us house elves can take care of everything! Minky would have to shove her hands in the oven for letting Lily Evans suggest it, miss!"

"All right! I'm sorry…" Lily replied. "I didn't mean to offend you. We'll just sit here and be waited upon." She added softly.

"That's what they like." James shrugged. "Just deal with it." He added, popping a sucker into his mouth. 

"Whatever." Lily said. "At least we don't have to do much work."

"Mr. James Potter, sir?" A very young elf said softly, tugging on James' sleeve. "Bumby needs help." Lily guessed this elf was no more than 3 years old.

"How can I help you, Bumby?" James said kindly, pulling the lollipop out of his mouth and leaning on his knees so he was at the small elf's level.

"Bumby is in charge of carrying the desserts to the table… but Bumby is too small." The elf replied. "Could sir help him?"

"Certainly!" James replied. "Where are they?" Bumby pointed to a huge cake that was at least twice as long as the small elf. "Lil… you uh…?"

"Help? Sure." Lily said, taking one end of the cake as James took the other. "One, two, three…" They lifted the large cake and placed it on the table.

"Bumby thanks you, sir and miss!" Bumby cheered. James and Lily returned to their seats, and the elf hopped into James' lap. "Sir tell Bumby a story?"

"Er, okay…" James said, looking to Lily. "What do you want it to be about?"

"An elf! Like Bumby!" The elf giggled. 

"All right, I can handle that:" James cleared his throat, and Lily watched him, smiling slightly. "Once upon a time, in a far away place… there lived an elf by the name of Bumby." When the young elves heard James' story begin, they all clustered over and gathered around their feet. Lily soon had two in her lap.

"Bumby was a small elf, and didn't think much about a life other than the one he had. But that changed the day he met another elf whose name was- what's your name?" He asked the other elf in his lap.

"Hildy, sir!" The elf squeaked.

"…Whose name was Hildy. Hildy was also small, but had a big heart, and loved adventures."

"I do not, sir!" Hildy interrupted.

"Do not bother James Potter! He is telling a story!" Bumby shrieked. "Continue Mr. Potter, sir!"

"Yeah, anyway: So Hildy loved adventures. One day, Hildy invited Bumby to join her on a wild expedition to the center of… er… Wartshog Mountain-"

"That's Hogwarts all inside out!" The elf in Lily's lap shouted.

"Yes… anyway," James said, rolling his eyes so only Lily could see. 

James continued his thrilling tale about Bumby and Hildy. The elves screamed at the frightening parts, and cheered loudly at the end when the elves returned home with vast treasures. 

James and Lily weren't excused from the kitchens until long after the feast had ended. James had been forced by the elves to tell story after story, until his throat was hoarse and he could hardly speak. So, yawning and stretching, they made their way up to the Gryffindor tower. But to their misfortune, the Fat Lady was not in her portrait.

"Great!" James moaned. "What'll we do now? We won't be able to get back inside until she gets back, and God knows how long that will take!"

"We could bang on the door and see if someone will open it from the inside…" Lily suggested. 

"Everyone will be asleep." James frowned, sitting against the base of the picture. "We may as well just sit and wait."

"I guess…" Lily sighed, sitting next to him. "That was, er, really sweet what you did for those house elves…"

"What? Tell them stories?" James replied, removing his glasses and rubbing his forehead. "It was easy… telling stories comes easy to me."

"Really?" Lily said. "I could never tell stories… maybe it's just because my parents never read to me as a kid or anything."

"They didn't?" James asked, astonished. "Wow. Why not?"

"I don't really know." She shrugged. "They were always really busy… they left for work early, and came home too late."

"What about when they were home?"

"They were too busy 'relaxing'." Lily said. "They just never had time." But James still looked apprehensive.

"What do you mean- 'relaxing'?" He asked. "Like, sleeping? Or like…"

"Like drinking." Lily said quickly. "I don't really want to talk about it." 

"Drinking?" James replied. "Was everything okay? Did they hurt you? What happened, Lily?" James pressed. He turned to face her, but she avoided his eyes.

"Yes, everything was fine… and still is, okay?" She muttered. "Please, I really don't like talking about it."

"You _can_ tell me, you know." He whispered. "I wouldn't tell anyone else."

"I know you wouldn't." Lily said shortly. "I just don't want to talk about it. End of story." She replied. 

"Okay. I understand." James said. "And I'm sorry." 

"Why would you need to be sorry?"

"I don't know!" James sighed. "You just didn't seem to have a very cheery childhood… or at least, not like mine."

"So you pity me because my childhood was different from yours?" Lily asked. "Is that what you're saying?" 

"No!" James defended. "I just think every kid deserves to have a story told to them- at least once."

"Well, I didn't." Lily snapped. "And up until now, it didn't bother me much…" 

"But now it does?" James asked. "Is it because you just realized you've been deprived?"

"I have _not_ been deprived, James." Lily said hotly. "I just grew up differently than you. It's not easy growing up overshadowed by an older sibling…"

"You have and older sibling? I didn't know that." He said softly. "Did they go to Hogwarts?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Lily exclaimed. "Petunia hates magic. If she received a letter she'd probably kill herself - and her new husband would probably help her."

"New husband?"

"Yeah… she's getting married to some Vernon Dursley this summer." Lily said. "A Muggle through and through. I wonder what he'll say when he finds out I'm a witch… I can't wait to tell him!" She chuckled.

"I never knew all this about you Lily." James said. "This is kinda cool."

"Sure. I guess." Lily shrugged. "And what about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Nope. Just me, and my parents." James said. "But they spoil me. Oh God! Listen to me! I even admit it!"

"I think it's good that you can admit it. Then you learn when enough is enough." Lily said wisely. 

"I guess." James said. "It just bothers me when they think I'm too young to handle the truth about things. Like when my grandpa died: they tried to keep it from me for at least a month, until they were sure that I could handle it. But by that time, I had figured it out for myself and I had already accepted the fact that he was gone. I was really pissed about that one. My dad and I get in fights a lot. They're always about whether I can go places on my own or with my friends- they wouldn't even let me go to Diagon Alley with out them there. It gets so frustrating! They act like I'm a piece of glass… or too young to do anything."

"That must be hard for you." Lily sympathized.

"It's worse!" James ranted. "They never let me make my own decisions… or do what I want, or be with who I choose… They're so controlling! My mom freaked out the first time I got a detention, so I just stopped telling her. Just imagine what she'd say if I told her that Remus was a werewolf! She'd probably march over here and bring me home before you could bat an eye. 

"See, you're lucky." He continued. "I bet your parents wouldn't care who you hung out with. I bet they wouldn't mind if your were friends with someone different. And I'd bet anything they won't care when you tell them about our detention."

"No." Lily said softly. "You're right… they wouldn't care."

James talked about his family like they were a burden. How could he? Lily had to strive her whole life just for her parents to say "Good job, Lily!" or "We're so proud, Lily!" She had only heard her mother and father say that once- at that was when she got her acceptance letter to Hogwarts. They rarely gave her gifts- let alone spoiled her. She never even got a pat on the back for getting top marks last year. 

Sure, it seemed like she had this fantastic freedom that some kids could only fantasize about. James obviously wanted it- why didn't she?

 Maybe because that with this freedom came a price she was not willing to pay. Lily would choose James' embarrassing parents over her drunk ones any day. Even Madison disliked her parents. She called them boring and stupid, and annoying. But Lily would give anything for her parents to look at her the way Madison's parents looked at Madison.

"I didn't mean to offend you, Lily…" James said softly into the silence. Lily hadn't realized she had been spacing out- lost in her thoughts- this whole time.

"It's fine." Lily said, smiling gently. "I just don't understand how you can say those things about your parents. I… I would love to have a family like that."

"I'm sorry…" James said. "You look tired… you can sleep if you want. I'll wake you up when the Fat Lady comes back."

"Yeah, okay." Lily said, yawning. She slouched down on the ground until she was comfortable. She slowly closed her eyes, and dipped into a dream.

"Lily!" a voice shouted from far away… "LILY! Wake up!"

Lily was jerked out of her slumber and found her self at the foot of the Fat Lady's portrait. James was shaking her violently, calling her name. Lily put a hand to her forehead. She felt a cold sweat, and she wiped her face with her sleeve.

"God, Lily." James whispered. "Are you okay? You were screaming and rolling on the floor…"

"James…" Lily said hoarsely. "It was awful… my dad… he was yelling…"

"It was only a dream, Lily." James reminded her softly. 

"No!" Lily moaned. "It happened. Two summers ago…"

"It was just a nightmare Lily…" James said. But the look on his face showed he didn't even believe himself. "A bad dream…"

"You don't understand." Lily sobbed. "I remember! Only my mom and Petunia knew…"

"He didn't hit you did he?" James asked seriously, as though seeing her for the first time.

"No…"

"But he yelled at you…"

"Called me a bitch…" Lily whispered. "And other horrible things… he was drunk- really, really, drunk. He came home at almost midnight, and threw me to the floor. I don't know what he was going to do, but Petunia took him outside and did something… but when he came back inside, he apologized… he was crying…"

"Lily…" James said. "That's… awful." 

"Oh God…" Lily murmured, wiping tears off her face. "I never told anybody that…"

"It's okay… go back to sleep…" James said. He removed his Hogwarts robe and covered a trembling Lily with it. "Go to sleep."

**Chapter 14**

**The Worst Morning Ever**

"James! How could you!?" Lily heard someone say. She unwillingly opened her eyes to see who was standing over her. 

"Sirius… what do you want?" James asked groggily. He slowly pulled himself into sitting position. 

"What happened last night, James?" Peter asked. "We waited and waited…"

"James! I thought we had something special!" Sirius moaned playfully. "But I just don't know… I can't trust you anymore!"

"Shut up…" James snapped.

"Then where were you at the feast? And after?" Peter pressed. "We came back to the common room and you weren't there…"

"Lily and I had to man the kitchens with the house elves…" James said, nodding towards her.

"Man the kitchens? Man the kitchens?!" Sirius said, wiping a fake tear off his face. "That was _our_ favorite pastime… oh James!"

"Lily, is this true?" Peter asked.

"Yeah… it's not that big of a deal…" She said, shrugging.

"Not that big a deal?!" Sirius shouted in agony. "You're a home wrecker, Lily Evans! James and I were perfectly happy until you came along!"

"Padfoot…" James said warningly. 

"Don't you Padfoot me!" Sirius muttered. "We're through, James Potter! You hear me?"

"Damn, Si! Enough's enough!" James scolded.

"Yeah yeah… okay." Sirius said. "Can't a guy have any fun?"

"And nothing happened… right, Lil?" James protested.

"Nothing at all." Lily sighed. 

"Okay…" Peter said slowly. "But Remus will not be happy about this… we waited in the common room for you for hours!"

"But then you fell asleep, of course." James grinned. "So how is this all my fault? Moony will understand. So we missed one full moon- big deal!"

"We've been planning this one for the past two months, James!" Peter shouted. "This was the time we were going to head into Hogsmeade, remember?"

"Peter, it's not that big of a deal…" Sirius said softly. "Calm yourself…"

"Whatever. I'm going to find Remus." Peter sighed. "But James, I really am surprised you'd put a_ girl_ before your best friends… I mean, come on…"

"Peter! How many times do I need to say it? Nothing happened! And besides, this is _Lily_ we're talking about… like something would happen between us anyway…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked. "Are you suggesting I wouldn't be good enough for you, Potter?"

"Now I never said that…"

"You just did!" Lily said. "I guess I'm just not pretty enough, or something. Oh! Right, I forgot… you only date tramps and blondes." She snapped.

"Good one!" Sirius laughed and James shot him a look.

"First of all, I don't date tramps, and I've only dated 3 blondes. And I never said…"

"Please! Grow up, James." Lily sighed, shaking her head.

"Hello?!" Peter called. "What about Remus?"

"What _about_ Remus?" James said.

"Well, if it weren't for little Lily over there, we would be sneaking back into the common room right now…" Peter said hotly.

"So now everything's my fault!" Lily shouted. "What exactly did I do?!"

"You're a real problem, Lily." Peter said coldly. "I think we'd all be smart to stay away from you. Right, Si?" He said, turning to Sirius, as though for approval.

"No, Peter. What are you saying? Lily's awesome…" Sirius said, looking bewildered.

"Please! She's a freak! All she wants to do is tear the marauders apart!" Peter shouted. "You saw what she did to you and James… and now look what she's doing to us!"

"Peter, I never-" Lily began.

"Pete, you're being thick. _You're_ the one who-" 

"Don't talk to me! See what's happening? It's all her fault! Now you're sticking up for her instead of me! That's not how it's supposed to work, James!" Peter scolded. "Just wait till I tell Remus!"

"And what will Remus say?" Sirius asked. "I'll bet you five Sickles he won't give a shit." 

"Si, you don't _have_ five Sickles…" James reminded softly.

"Oh right." Sirius said. "Let's make it two Knuts then…"

"That's not the point! It's Lily! Don't you see? She's ripping us all apart!" Peter yelled. "And Remus _will_ care!"

"I'll care about what?" Remus said, walking casually around a corner. "Where were you guys last night?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell them!" Peter shouted. "You missed us last night, didn't you?"

"I didn't really care much…"

"Ha! I'm two Knuts richer, baby!" Sirius cheered, doing a little victory dance around the corridor.

"It was Lily's fault!" Peter screamed, ignoring the fact that Sirius was prancing around behind him. "She's ruining everything!!"

"I'm doing no such thing!" Lily yelled. "And I'm sorry I'm bothering you all so much."

"What?" Remus said. "I'm confused… what's wrong with you, Lily?"

"Forget it! All of you! Just drop it!" James shouted. 

"No, James! It's us, or Lily!" Peter said. "Take your pick."

"Come off it, Peter. I'm not choosing. No one else cares anyway." James said. "I'm going to bed."

"You can't go back in the dormitories, James. The Fat Lady's still gone." Peter reminded him. "So choose."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are! Or we'll leave!"

"No we won't…" Remus said. "James can spend time with Lily if he wants to…"

"Who says I want to?" 

"Well who says I want to spend time with you?" Lily cried. "No one ever asked me!" 

"Shut up." James sighed.

"You shut up." Lily snapped back. 

"This is officially the worst morning ever!" James said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Everyone just back off!"

"What did I do?" Remus asked innocently.

"Nothing!!" James screamed.

"I'm not backing off until Lily does." Peter said, staring coldly at her.

"I have backed off!" She shouted. "You all can have your fun… I don't care!!"

"First you follow us around-" Peter said.

"What? The werewolf thing?" Lily asked.

"- then you try to tell Dumbldore our secret-"

"I never did!" She moaned.

"- next you try to pull Padfoot and Prongs apart and nearly succeeded-"

"I did not!"

"- and now she's trying to divide the rest of us! She's a lousy bitch!" Peter howled. Lily took a deep breath and recalled the dream last night…. _She's a lousy bitch…_

"Peter, shut up." James said softly. James looked cautiously at Lily. _He remembers too._ Lily thought.

"What?" Peter said angrily. "Don't tell me to shut up…"

"Looks like I just did." James said. "Leave her alone. You're accusing her of stupid things…"

"She must have poisoned you or something… you're acting weird, James." Peter chuckled nervously. Lily knew he didn't really want to make James mad.

"I've had it!" James shouted again. "I'm outta here." And he stormed down the hall.

"James-!" Peter shouted after him. He glared at Lily, and then tore off behind James calling his name. Remus shrugged and followed. 

"I got a Knut, I got a Knut, I got two Knuts hey, hey, hey, hey!" Sirius sang, dancing around again.

"You don't even want to know how wrong that sounds." Lily scoffed before she took off towards the Grand Hall for breakfast.

"It's not really true, is it, Lily? What they're saying about you and James?" That was all Lily heard over the next few days. That was all anyone wanted to talk about. Lily and James. James and Lily.

"NO! God damn it, NO!" Lily would scream. "Whatever they're saying: NO!" 

But people didn't want to hear any of that. And to make matters worse, Peter was feeding these rumors with evil grins. 

"That's right… I saw them." He smirked. "Lily and James. Has a nice ring, doesn't it?"

Lily couldn't stand it. The whole idea was horrible. Lily and James. Ha! It really was laughable. The only people who believed Lily were Madison and Belle. Madison actually found the whole situation very funny.

"I can't believe they would think- you? Please! You're so… responsible!" She laughed. "In their dreams!"

But there was a look on her face when she said this that made Lily uneasy. Almost like she wanted to be in Lily's place- a jealous gleam in her eye. But she must have just imagined it.

"Lily? Could I… er… talk to you?" Snape asked Lily the Tuesday after Lily was locked out of the common room.

"Um, sure… What about?"

"You and James…"

"Oh God, not that again!" Lily sighed. "Nothing happened. The thought is just gross… you didn't really believe that, did you?"

"I… of course not, Lily!" Siverus said, glancing around nervously. "I just wanted to hear it from you. I know that your much more… respectable than that."

"Thank you." Lily said, smiling. "I'm glad you see it that way."

"Yes, well." Snape shrugged, going slightly red. "What else can I say? I mean, James is so…"

"Immature?" Lily suggested. "I quite agree."

Snape chuckled slightly. "Well, I was going to say stupid… but immature works as well." Lily must have looked a little apprehensive, for he quickly added, "Although, he can be very… er… good too, I suppose…"

"No, what you said was right." Lily said, starting to feel a little awkward. "You don't have to go back on your beliefs just because someone might not agree…"

"You don't think he's a pompous airhead?" Siverus asked, raising his eyebrows. "I always thought you didn't think highly of him."

"Who says I do?"

"No one… but you just… never mind." Snape sighed. 

"No, what?" Lily pressed. "Say it."

"Nothing, I… it's nothing." Snape repeated. "Really."

"Oh, all right…" She said softly. 

"Lily, can I ask you something?"

"Um… I guess so…" Lily said, shifting nervously. She looked around the deserted hallway. She had a good idea what was coming… Snape obviously liked her. _Please… don't ask me out…_ Lily prayed. 

"I, er, think rather highly of you… and um…"

"Yes?" Lily winced, preparing herself for the worst. What would she say? Snape was just strange… she didn't want to date him…

"LILY!" Someone shouted from down the hall.

"Madison?" Lily replied, sighing with relief. A rescue! 

"It's Peter… come quick! He's kinda talking about you and James again…" Madison gasped. "James is getting pissed… and McGonagall's on the way… if she hears…"

"Let's go…" Lily said quickly, dashing up the steps. "See you later, Siverus." 

When she got to the common room, Peter was making another scene. Only this time, He was shouting at the top of his lungs at James and the other Marauders, trying to convince them that Lily was unworthy.

"Get with it!" Peter yelled. "She's a freak, James! I just can't believe you would-"

"We didn't! You're the one who's blown this way out of proportion. Nothing happened, Pete. As if I would do _anything_ with Lily…"

"And let's bring out Lily Evans…" Madison cheered, leading Lily into the room. "This is just like that Terry Stinger's talk show!"

"Terry! Terry!" Some younger students shouted in unison. 

"Madison… what's going on?" Lily ventured. "Where's McGonagall?"

"I just said that to make you hurry." Madison shrugged. "I'm so clever, aren't I?!" 

"Are you joking?" Lily said in astonishment. "What is this?"

"A blessing in disguise!" Madison said. "We're going to work this whole thing out in front of the Gryffindor common room, with your host: ME!" She grinned.

"Madison…"

"I'm serious!" She said, flashing a smile. "Now take a seat." She shoved Lily into a chair and other kids pushed Peter and James into chairs on opposite sides of her.

"So tell us… what happened, James?" Madison began.

"This is stupid…" Peter said.

"Answer the question!" A third year shouted.

James rolled his eyes. "Lily and I were asked by Professor McGonagall to help down in the kitchens during the feast. We weren't allowed out until late at night. When we came up to the portrait hole, the Fat Lady was gone, so we camped out under her frame and waited for her to come back. That's it."

"Then what happened, Peter?"

"Sirius and I found him on our way to breakfast." Peter sighed. "This is stupid…" He repeated.

"Let's get Sirius up here." Madison suggested and Sirius strode proudly up and sat down in Madison's lap- much to her embarrassment. 

"Er, all right…" She said, giggling. "Let's here your side…"

"Well," Sirius began, faking a sob. "As I'm sure you all know, James and I have been very happy together these past few years." He paused for a few laughs from the second years. "But, when Peter and I were heading downstairs for a harmless breakfast, I saw _them_ sleeping on the ground."

"Innocently?"

"Well, I suppose so…" Sirius said. "But STILL! I must say, Lily Evans is a home wrecker!!"

"I'm sorry, Sirius!" Lily shouted playfully. "James is just so irresistible…" She shrugged, rolling her eyes and laughing.

"I just don't know if I can accept that…" Sirius sobbed. "You're ruined my life and my long lasting love!" 

Lily was glad that the Gryffindors were laughing and obviously starting to see the stupidity of the rumor Peter had started.

"Sirius…" James moaned, getting down on his knees. "I still love you…"

"How do I know you won't go off and do this again?" Sirius cried, wiping fake tears off his face, and sticking his nose in the air.

"I love you, Si…" James joked, scrambling on his knees over to the chair that held Sirius and Madison. Students laughed and pointed their fingers.

"I… love you too, James!!" Sirius squealed, and James leaped up and they hugged dramatically. Lily began to applaud as she laughed.

"And I promise I won't ruin your happy family ever again, Sirius." Lily added as he pulled her into the hug.

"I accept your apology, Lily." Sirius said. "But this is your warning… stay away from my hubby. No touchy-touchy, you hear?"

"Trust me: I will." Lily said. She cast a quick glance at Peter and saw he was scowling in his chair.

"Why were you talking to Siverus earlier?" Madison asked a few hours later. 

"I think he was going to ask me out…" Lily winced. "Gross, huh?"

"Ew!" Madison squealed. "Hey, Si! You gotta hear this!

"What?"

"Snape was going to ask out Lily!" Madison shouted at him. "Can you believe it? Horrible, isn't it?"

"Siverus Snape? I pity you, Lily!" Sirius grinned. "Care to play a prank on him? I haven't had a detention in ages!"

"_You_ can… I think he might take it the wrong way if I did…" Lily chuckled. "But you feel free too. Maybe you could lock _him_ out of _his_ dormitory!" 

Sirius smiled maliciously. Lily could almost see the cogs in his mind turning steadily trying to come up with a plan.

"James-a-roo!" Sirius shouted.

"Yeah, my dear?"

"I have a nice little prank… care to join me in working out the details?" Sirius said, batting his eyelashes.

"Of course, my darling! Let me just beat Remus at this chess game and I'll be over there in two shakes of a lamb's tail!" James said, chuckling at their own stupidity.

"Your pal Lily gave me the idea…" Sirius said, grinning at her as James came to join him.

"Did she?" James said. "Well, if it's as horrendous as the pajama one…" He replied, glancing at Lily.

"It's not." Sirius said shortly. "We're going to lock them out."

"All of them?" James said, knowing immediately what his friend was talking about, even thought Lily didn't have a clue. "How will we manage that?"

"You'll see…" Sirius grinned maliciously. 

**Chapter 15**

**Moony's Explanation**

A few weeks passed and there was no more mention of Lily and James' night outside the common room. In fact, everything was rather quiet. But one morning in the beginning of February, the Slytherins came bursting back into the Great Hall after dinner looking confused and angry.

"We can't get back in!!" Lucius declared. "We've been locked out of our common room, Professor Walter!"

"What's this?" Walter, the head of Slytherin house asked. "What's going on?"

"We've been locked out of our House! The stone wall has sealed itself shut." Lucius repeated. "And my friend is locked inside…"

"Who's locked inside?" Professor Walter wondered.

"Siverus Snape, and a few others. They didn't come to dinner, so the culprits must have shut the wall then." Lucius whispered coldly. 

"The culprits?" Dumbledore asked from the head table. His eyes twinkled slightly as though he yearned to burst into laughter. "And are you certain the wall didn't just close by itself? It tends to do that occasionally…"

"Sir, I can assure you, the wall did not close _by itself_. As a well-respected Prefect, might I suggest who the culprit- or should I say- culprits might be?" Lucius said angrily.

"You may suggest, but I may choose not to believe you." Dumbledore replied.

Lucius looked flustered for a moment and looked to a fellow Slytherin before responding.

"I can honestly say, Headmaster Dumbledore, sir, that James Potter and Sirius Black have committed this shrewd and childish prank. They should be punished immediately." Lucius demanded, casting a cold glance at the Gryffindor table.

"And, my dear Lucius, can you prove to me that Mr. Potter and Mr. Black are responsible for your common room wall closing? I think we should get Mr. Filch, the caretaker, over to your entrance and see what he can do. Any punishment will be decided by their Head of House- if James and Sirius are even to blame." Dumbledore said sternly. But his mouth broke into a smile, and he watched Lucius intently from the Head Table.

"But sir, I think…"

"I think you have made your point, Lucius, and you should meet Filch at your common room door. Thank you for alerting me of this problem." Dumbledore said.

The Great Hall rang with laughter as Lucius and the other Slytherins stormed out of the Hall.

The next Saturday, Lily, Belle, and Madison left their common room to meet the other students to head into Hogsmeade. 

"Oooh! I can't wait until winter is over!" Madison complained as they stepped out of the horseless carriage and out into the bitter cold air. They hurried through the village and headed straight toward the Three Broomsticks for a drink.

"Hey, Lil, look who's here…" Belle teased as the Marauders walked into the pub shivering and pulling off their scarves. 

"Lily!" Remus called. "Can we talk for a moment?"

"Sure. I guess…" Lily shrugged. He motioned for her to follow him back outside, so Lily left her mug of butter beer unwillingly behind.

"What do we need to talk about?" Lily asked. But Remus didn't answer.

"Let's go for a walk." He suggested. Lily shrugged again and they left the warmth of the Three Broomsticks behind. 

Snow began to fall lazily down upon the village. Its icy droplets slid out of the clouds like water from a leaky tap. Lily shivered.

"Remus, why can't we stay in the Three Broomsticks? It's freezing out here…" Lily moaned softly. Again, Remus stayed silent. 

"Is everything okay, Remus?"

"Do you think less of me because I'm a werewolf?" Remus asked suddenly.

"What? Are you joking?" Lily stammered.

"No, Lily, I'm dead serious. Ever since you found out I was a… a werewolf, you've been trying to convince people that I shouldn't be allowed at Hogwarts." Remus replied solemnly. 

"Remus, I…"

"I never asked James and Sirius to become Anamangi. They _wanted_ to. I never wanted to put anyone in danger of me. Dumbledore was so kind to me… I would hate to destroy his trust in me by telling him that I allowed them to become illegal Anamangi."

"How has Dumbledore been kind to you?" Lily asked curiously.

"He convinced Headmaster Dippet to let me into Hogwarts, despite my… er, disability. He wanted me to have a normal childhood and become a wizard like all my friends." Remus replied. "But Peter told me you are planning to tell Albus about James and Sirius, and how we go out at night…"

"When did Peter tell you this?" Lily asked.

"Just last week." Remus shrugged. "But Lily, you _can't._ I don't know what would happen if word got out I was a werewolf. We'll be more careful when we go out… I'll make sure of it!_"_

But Lily pushed this aside. "Why did you think I was prejudiced against werewolves?" 

"Only because you started acting different towards me after you found out." Remus said, his face hardening. "I'm sorry about what happened that night, Lily. I never meant to try to hurt you. Sometimes, I can't control myself. But whenever James and Sirius… and even Peter are with me, my animal instincts are almost driven from my mind completely."

"I'm sure they are." Lily sighed. 

"But, Lily, please! Don't tell Dumbledore about them being Anamangi. There's no telling what he would think. What if he expelled me, Lily? I couldn't live with that…" Remus begged.

"Remus, as I've said to James, I was never really planning on telling Headmaster Dumbledore. It was only a threat." Lily replied.

"Oh, thank you Lily!" Remus sighed. "You don't know how much this means to me and the Marauders."

"I'm sorry I was so… prejudiced. I never really realized-"

"Forget it." Remus said. "Really. I've been facing that my whole life."

"How long have you had… your condition?" Lily wondered politely.

"As long as I can remember." Remus said. "When I was very young, I was bit by a what my family thought was just a wolf. But then, around the full moon, I would transform and they knew that was no ordinary wolf. There was nothing we could do. My parents just set me out into the woods every full moon so I could become a wolf."

"Then what?"

"Well, then I was accepted into Hogwarts, thanks to Dumbledore. He's a great man, Dumbldore. He came up with the plan to hide me in the Shrieking Shack during the full moon. During my transformation, I had the urge to bite people… but I couldn't. So I took to biting myself. People in Hogsmeade heard my screeches of pain, and thought there were ghosts. Dumbldore fed this rumor." Remus paused, then continued. 

"But now that James comes to visit me in his animal form, I've been preoccupied and I've stopped biting myself. We've had so much fun together as animals. There are no boundaries!"

"But, Remus!" Lily said. "You must realized that roaming the school at night is horribly unsafe! That's what I've been trying to tell you. You could run into anybody… like me." She reminded.

"Lily, we're careful. That was the smallest of slips… and our first mistake in a long, long, time." Remus said. "And you weren't even hurt."

"Luckily for me!" Lily said. "But what if James and Sirius couldn't have stopped you? What if you wouldn't let them?"

"But they did… and I do." Remus corrected. "And there's never been any problems before. Can't you let us have a little fun?"

"Not when my friends are in danger." Lily said. 

"Well, then. I guess I can't convince you anymore than that." Remus said. "And I really am sorry you had to get involved in this."

"I'm heading back inside." Lily said. "I suppose I'm glad we had this talk, Remus. And I'll try my best not to be so prejudiced."

"Wonderful." Remus said. "I couldn't expect any more than that from you." 

As Lily turned to walk back inside, she glanced at Remus. His face was chapped and his sandy hair was wind blown, but the way he looked at her gave her a confidence that he was extremely trustworthy. 

"But you will be more careful?" Lily asked. "For my sake?"

"Anything for you, Lily." Remus replied with a grin. "Anything."


	8. Seemingly Decieving & Strip Snap & Mourn...

_Howdy, readers! I just love your reviews! You're all so nice to me, haha! I really appreciate it, and I want you all to know that I just get so excited when I see how great my reviews are. So thank you all so much—you've made my week!! I sincerely hope that you enjoy the rest of my story (there's only about two more postings-worth left and then it's on to the sequel!) and I hope that you keep reading and reviewing! You're all fabulous! Enough blabbering, on with the story……_

**Chapter 16**

**Seemingly Deceiving**

The next morning, Lily rolled out of bed and went down to the common room. There, she found Belle sitting in a chair with her homework on her lap.

"Hey, Lily. What's up?" She replied, not looking away from her paper. 

"Nothing really. What are you up to?" Lily said. 

"Homework, what else?" Belle snorted. "What was Remus on about yesterday? Why wouldn't you tell us?"

"It's kind of private." Lily said. She had not told anyone about Remus' being a werewolf. 

"Well, obviously." Belle snapped. "Why can't you tell me? Please? I'll be your best friend…"

"You already are." Lily laughed. As she said this, the Marauders came down the boys' steps chuckling.

"Morning." James said.

"Lily, please…" Belle continued to beg. "I promise I won't tell."

"Tell what?" Remus asked. "Lily, you didn't tell her, did you?"

"No! Of course not!" Lily said, scandalized. 

"Does this have to do with Remus and his-" Belle began, as a look of comprehension dawned on her.

"You _did_ tell her!" Sirius said. Remus stared at Lily, shocked. "How could you, Lily?"

"I didn't! I swear!" Lily defended. "I would never…"

"But you _did…_"

"No…"

"I can't believe you, Lily. We trusted you!" James replied sadly. "We thought you were smart enough to keep it a secret."

Belle looked from the Marauders to Lily. "I don't understand… it's just gossip…"

"Just gossip?" Peter hollered. "Just _gossip?!_"

"I didn't tell her…" Lily stammered. "I wouldn't!"

"Don't blame Lily." Belle said. "I figured it out for myself and I won't tell anyone. I promise, Remus."

"I didn't want anyone else to know!" Remus moaned. "God, this is embarrassing…"

"He trusted you, Evans." Peter smirked. "How could you?"

"Why are you all making such a big deal about this?" Belle asked innocently. "Dating at Hogwarts has nothing to do with anything later in life. Especially not now."

"Dating?" Remus repeated, looking up from the floor. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, aren't you going to break up with your girlfriend?" Belle asked. She looked as though this were obvious to anyone. "That's what we've all been talking about!"

"Dumping my girlfriend?" Remus repeated again, a grin brightening his solemn face. "Dumping my girlfriend! Of course!" He lied.

"You mean to say, you didn't guess…" 

"Of course she guessed!" Remus said happily, knowing his secret was still safe. "How could she not? It was obvious!"

"Remus…" Peter began desperately. "It was Lily… she _told_ Belle that you're-"

"-dumping Penelope!" James leaped in. "She just, um, isn't good enough for our dear Remus."

Belle looked at him firmly. "Now, James. That's really not a very nice thing to say. Penelope's perfectly… well, actually, she's a bit of a bitch…"

So after that conversation, Remus was practically forced to break up with Penelope. He looked a little disappointed about it, but it was apparent to Lily that he would do anything and everything to keep his werewolf secret safe. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he would find a replacement come Valentine's Day later that week. 

Peter looked very disappointed.

"Lily!" Snape called after her after History of Magic on Tuesday.

"Yes, Siverus?" Lily replied, agitated. "I really need to get going…"

"Where? Classes are over for the day…"

"Homework." She said quickly.

"Oh… well…" He began nervously. "Seeing as Valentine's Day is coming up on Friday… I was, er…"

"Wondering?" Lily prompted, preparing herself for what was coming.

"Er, yeah… wondering… if you would, er…"

"LILY!" Someone shouted down the hall. Relief flooded though her as she graciously turned to see who called for her.

"Lily, there's an emergency Prefect meeting." James said. 

"Oh!" Lily replied, trying to contain her joy. 

"Oh, God! I'm sorry Siverus… was I interrupting something?" James replied. He didn't look sorry at all.

"Er, no. I'll talk to you later, Lily?" Snape said, looking hopeful.

"Um, yeah. Maybe." Lily said, rushing down the corridor with James, "Thank you." She whispered.

"Er… you're welcome…" James ventured.

"Oh, it's just, he was about to ask me out, and you saved me. That's all…" Lily explained. 

"Right." James said. "I pity you, that's all I'm going to say."

"Pity me?" Lily said. "Why?"

"Because Snape is a greasy-git. I dunno why you waist your time trying to be nice to him." James shook his head.

"It's never a waist of time to be nice to someone, James." Lily replied. "Although, I'm sure it is in your mind…" 

"Whatever. I don't like to bother with people like Snape… well, unless he's prank-worthy." James chuckled.

"And what makes someone prank-worthy?"

"Lots of things. Funny hair… funny face… funny attitude…"

"So someone funny?" Lily grinned. She walked quickly down the marble stairs of the Entrance Hall.

"Or funny looking." James corrected. "But those aren't the only reasons. Like if they make us mad…"

"So you played a prank on me because…"

"You seemed like you could use a laugh." James suggested.

"Good answer."

"Hurry, you two!" McGonagall yelled up at them. 

"Okay, okay!" James replied. "Keep your shirt on!"

"For all our sakes." Lily added, remembering their detention at the Quidditch field.

James snorted with laughter. "Yeah, really."

"All right, Hogwarts Prefects." McGonagall replied when they were all seated around the table. "I think that since your Masquerade Ball was such a success, you all should plan our annual Departing Feast for the end of school. You still have a while to plan it and what not, I just thought I'd give you a 'heads up'." 

"Sounds fabulous, Professor!" Haley squealed. "I can't wait!"

"I thought you all would jump at the chance to help out. And don't forget that two of you will be announced as Head Boy and Head Girl that night, so you might want to make it a special night. As you know, being a Head Person is the highest honor you can receive at Hogwarts. Only the peoples with the best exam scores, most recommendations form your teachers and Heads of House will acquire this honor." McGonagall reminded. 

_The highest honor at Hogwarts…_ Suddenly, Lily realized that if she became Head Girl, her parents would have no choice but to applaud her. The highest honor! Lily couldn't be any better than that.

Around the table, the Prefects were nodding their heads dully. Most peoples' eyes were out of focus, as though they were daydreaming about getting the Head Boy or Girl badge and standing before the whole school in all their glory…

**Chapter 17**

**Strip Snap and Such**

   Later that evening, after everyone had gone to bed, the Marauders, Lily and Belle were in the common room. Remus had challenged Lily to a wizards' chess match. Lily was winning.

Belle, James, and Peter were discussing Quidditch by the friendly crackling fire. And Sirius was sitting in the chair absentmindedly banging two wands together… trying to do who-knows-what. 

Suddenly, Sirius shouted, "MUSIC! Look! They made music! Lily, our wands made music! We can make beautiful music together!" 

Lily shot him a look that clearly said, "You're a dork."

Sirius began to lip sync to the song the wands were 'playing'. He danced around the common room to Aretha Franklin using the wands as a microphone.

"Just ignore him." Remus advised Lily. "He might go away."

"Oh common, Remus! Just get us some butterbeer and get a game of strip snap goin' on… and this could be a rockin' party!" Sirius cheered.

"Er, Sirius… you can do that by yourself." James sighed.

Sirius paused, and then shouted, "OKAY then! I think I will!"

He dashed over the corner with a deck of exploding snap cards and began to play.

"He's a strange one, all right." Remus sighed, moving a chess piece to E-7. "I'm taking it upon myself to make sure you don't end up like Sirius."

"What's wrong with ending up like Sirius? He's cheerful guy…" Lily replied.

Remus didn't answer but looked over to the corner. Lily followed his gaze and watched as Sirius dance around.

"Oh yeah! Lost again!" Sirius shouted. He pulled his shirt off and twirled it around his head like a helicopter.

"Remus," Lily said. "I think I'll take you up on that offer."

"That's what I thought." Remus chuckled as Sirius unbuckled his belt and flung it at James.

"Ow! Sirius!" James catcalled. "Too hot to handle!"

"No one can resist the Black Magic!" Sirius said slyly as he chucked off his shoes and socks.

Unfortunately for all in the room, this continued until Sirius was dancing in his boxers.

"He's not very modest is he?" Belle smirked.

"Only one more hand to go, baby!" Sirius screamed gleefully. Everyone quickly shielded his or her eyes. 

Just as Sirius shouted, "Snap! Oh darn. Lost again!" the portrait hole burst open to reveal McGonagall.

"What are you all doing? I can hear you all the way down- oh GOD!" McGongall shrieked as she noticed Sirius.

"That's right… I'm dead sexy. I'm a GOD! McGonagall even said so!" Sirius said dancing in a circle.

"Do you have any clue how many detentions you're facing?!" McGongall said, disgusted.

"Ha ha, Jamie-boy! Bet you wish you played now! I've got, like 50 detentions in one go!" Sirius cried, sticking his tongue out.

"I didn't want to play, Sirius." James moaned, unconvincingly. "I can get detentions without your help!"

"Sure you can, Jamie. I believe you." Sirius chuckled.

"Don't call me that!" James whimpered.

"Sirius Black! Come with me now!" McGonagall said shrewdly. 

"Good-bye all!" Sirius cried as McGonagall grabbed his ear and tried to pull him out of the common room. "I love you all! James, take care of Lily for me!"

"I won't let her out of my sight!" James sobbed. He leaped to the floor and tried to grab Sirius' ankle. "I won't let you go!"

"It's all right James." Sirius sighed, through fake tears. "Be strong! I'll come back for you some day!"

And just before the portrait hole closed, James reluctantly let go of Sirius' feet.

"Oh come on, Minerva. I know you want a piece of this." Lily heard Sirius say to McGonagall. "I know you can't resist the Black Magic! No one can! You just want me all for yourself, don't you? Admit it, you fox!"

"Do you realize how disgusting you are?" McGonagall said angrily.

"Yeah, disgustingly _gorgeous!"_ Sirius laughed happily. "Will I get to visit Dumbledore? Please!"

"Come on." McGonagall said, ignoring this request.

"He _is_ frightening, isn't he?" Lily giggled. "I'm off to bed." She replied as she stood up. James stood up too. Lily eyed him suspiciously, as she took a step towards her dormitory. James followed.

"_What_ are you doing?" Lily asked fervently. 

"I promised Sirius I wouldn't let you out of my sight, and I keep my promises." He replied proudly. 

"So you're going to follow her?" Remus asked smartly. 

"That's right." James nodded innocently.

"Even upstairs?" Lily asked. "I do have to change, you know."

"Whatever it takes!" James chuckled. 

"I should slap you for that." Lily smiled.

"Oh! Let me!" Belle said, reaching over and whacking the back of his head. "Run, Lily!" So Lily turned and dashed up the steps with James at her heels. 

"You're a psycho…" Lily muttered over her shoulder.

"So are you… and I promised." James said. 

"He didn't mean it!"

"Shows how much you know." He laughed. Lily threw open the common room door and was about to lock it shut, when James stuck his foot in the door.

"Ha!" James grinned. "I promised him… and until he comes back, I'm not letting you out of my sight!"

"'Ha' yourself." Lily grumbled. She began to jam the door on James' foot.

"Ow! Shit!" He moaned, hopping on his uninjured foot.

"Quiet, you'll wake my room mates!" Lily scolded.

"James, leave Lily alone." Remus replied appearing at the top of the staircase. 

"She crushed my foot!" James replied angrily.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Lily exclaimed sarcastically. He stuck his tongue at her.

"Watch it, or I'll slam the door on _that_ too." She joked.

"Remus!" James moaned. "Make her stop!"

"This is way beyond me." Remus laughed as he turned to walk back down the stairs. "But I suggest you leave Lily alone… I wouldn't put slamming the door on your tongue past her."

"Meanie." James murmured so only Lily could hear him.

"Dumbie." Lily retaliated, as she closed the door behind her.

**Chapter 18**

**Mourning Marshmallows and Lily's Locket**

A week later, the weather had taken a dramatic turn. Instead of the icy winds the Hogwarts students were getting used to, they were faced with whippy, stale winds. With no rain clouds in sight, summer was looking within their grasp.

One evening when Lily was finished with her homework, she sat by the fire, looking into it, lost in its flames. As she sat in thought, her mind drifted to her life at home.

Why didn't her parents care? She worked _so_ hard to get their attention… and they didn't even notice. 

They wouldn't even look at her Prefect badge. She knew this. And when Petunia came home with a rock on her bony finger- when she waved it in their faces- they only said "Congratulations, Petunia… I need to finish this write up, can we talk later?" 

They never did.

Her parents never even _met_ Vernon. She didn't think that they even would mind if he were some motorcycle gang member… not that Petunia would ever like someone like _that_. 

It wasn't fair. James' parents cared. They cared a lot. If they would refuse to let James be with his friends, when he got married, she was sure they would have the same attitude. "Who is she?" "How do you know her?" "When did you meet?" "How long were you dating?"

Why was James creeping into her brain? Lily didn't even know his family…

But Madison's parents… those were good examples. They loved Madison so much. Even though she didn't seem to, she loved them back. They took her places… helped her with her homework… they cared. 

And Belle's parents. They loved Belle. 

What was wrong with Lily? Why couldn't her parents love _her?_ Had she done something to disappoint them?

"Knut for your thoughts?" Someone asked, causing Lily to jump about a foot.

"Oh, God, Remus!" Lily choked. "Don't _do_ that. I didn't even see you sit down."

"What's that thing you're holding…"

"Oh… my locket." Lily replied. "I hadn't even realized I was holding it… it's just something my parents gave me."

"When? Why do you always wear it?" Remus asked.

"They gave it to me a really long time ago… back in our first year. It's just important to me." Lily answered quickly. 

"Are you okay, Lily?" Remus replied cautiously. "You seem very preoccupied…"

"I was just doing some thinking."

"About what?"

"Just my parents and my family." Lily shrugged. "I've been thinking about them a lot this year."

"Why? Is something the matter with them?" Remus asked her, his fair face hardening slightly.

"I'm starting to think something's the matter with me, actually." Lily sighed, looking back into the fire. 

"What makes you say something as far-fetched as that?" Remus replied. Lily could feel his coal-gray eyes boring into her.

"They've never loved me, that's all." Lily spat.

"Never loved you?" Remus repeated. "That's crazy…"

"No, Remus. It's not that crazy, as you would see if you came to my house. They're never home, they're always drunk, and they forgot Petunia's birthday last January. Do you _really_ think they care that much?"

"I'm sorry, Lily. I didn't know." Remus said solemnly. "But they must have loved you. They wouldn't have given you this if they didn't…" He said, indicating her locket.

"You'd be surprised. They were only happy to have a witch in the family… they weren't necessarily proud that it was _me_." Lily snapped. "I'm sorry…" Lily sighed.

"No, don't be sorry." Remus said. "I guess that locket means a lot to you then…"

"It's the most precious thing I own." Lily agreed.

"Then never let it go, Lily." Remus smiled.

"I don't mean to." Lily said. "I don't mean to."

"And they did love you." Remus said in a final sort of tone.

"How do you know?"

"Because it would be pretty hard not to love our Lily." He grinned, putting his hand on her cheek. 

"Oh, God, Remus…" Lily said, tears tumbling down her cheeks. She buried her head in his shoulder and cried. She didn't care who saw her. Remus said nothing, but let her cry. She was almost certain that a silent tear dripped off his chin, but she couldn't be sure. 

When she straightened up, Remus sniffed.

"It always helps to have someone to cry on." He said. 

"But when they cry with you," Lily said, wiping her eyes. "It means so much more."  

"Hey beautiful, what's shakin'?" Sirius said suddenly, appearing by the fireplace. But his face fell slightly when he saw Remus and Lily wiping their eyes quickly. "What's wrong? Did I miss something in detention?"

"No nothing…" Lily said, glancing at Remus. "What's that?"

"A marshmallow, silly!" Sirius chuckled, as he stuck it on a poker. "And into the fire it goes…" He replied, more to himself, as he began to roast the marshmallow.

"Yo! Si!" James shouted from across the room. "When did you get back from detention?"

"A few minutes ago." Sirius replied, turning from the flames.

"Sirius… your marshmallow…" Lily reminded him.

"Oh God! The injustice!" He screamed, as his white snack caught on fire. "It's been charred for life!"

"I'm sorry, Si." Lily smiled. 

"I can't eat it, now!" Sirius sobbed. "It's totally ruined! And it's all your fault James!"

"Aw, I'm sorry, buddy." James replied, sitting next to Sirius on the floor. "I'll still eat it…" He offered, making a grab for it.

"NO!" Sirius shouted. "You monster! We have to go back to the kitchens, and apologize to its friends!"

"I suppose that's the only thing we can do." James shrugged. "But perhaps we should toss it to the flames in respect."

"Of course…" Sirius said, bowing low to the now black marshmallow, and then he tossed it to the fire.

"You both are stupid prats." Lily sighed. "Mourning the death of a marshmallow…"

"This was no ordinary marshmallow!" Sirius cried in all seriousness. "It was special. Made of only organic sugars and fluffed to flawless perfection."

"Of course. How could I be so foolish?" Lily replied. 

"Yes, good question." James said. "Come Sirius. Let's go to the kitchens."

"Right behind you."

"Race?"

"You're on. Ready? Set? GO!" Sirius shouted, as he and James flew out the portrait hole.

"Two Sickles says they're caught before they reach the third floor." Lily said to Remus.

"I think that's what they're hoping will happen." Remus said. "But I'll bet they're caught before they reach the fifth floor."

"You have so little faith in them!" Lily scolded.

**Chapter 19**

**Amos Diggory**

Before Lily knew it, March was upon her, which meant that Hogwarts Exams were coming up sooner than anyone would like to think. Although three months seemed like a long time, everyone knew that exams were more than a test. They basically decided your entire future at Hogwarts and after.

One morning, mid-March on a Sunday, Lily decided to go for a walk. She didn't realize she was being followed until she had reached the lake.

"Amos? Is that you?" She asked. "I haven't seen you in the longest time!"

"Yes, I know." Amos replied. He was a year above Lily, and would be graduating in June. He was tall, and muscular. His strong jaw gave the impression he was not someone to mess with. His brown hair was cut short, and he ran his fingers through it nervously as he approached her. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good… and yourself?"

"No need to act so prim and proper with _me_, Lily. We've known each other for about 4 years now. But I'm fine." Amos said airily. 

"You're acting very proper yourself." Lily joked. "But I haven't seen you at all this year. Although that could be because you've been avoiding me…"

"Avoid you? Never!" Amos said dryly. "I think it's impossible to ignore someone such as yourself."

"'Such as myself'? I'll pretend you didn't say that…" Lily chuckled. 

"I didn't mean it disrespectfully, Lily." Amos said. 

"Of course not." Lily said.

"What did you think of that Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, hm? I'd say we played well against you, didn't we?" Amos bragged.

"Yes, Hufflepuff played very well. It's just too bad that our Seeker is a tad better than yours." Lily smiled. "And, not to be rude, but I think your house is out of the running for the Cup."

"Hufflepuff is in no way out of the running. We take our time, unlike _some_ teams." Amos hinted.

"In most cases, Amos, faster is better." Lily stated.

"I suppose." Amos replied. "But I must say I will miss Quidditch at Hogwarts."

"Only Quidditch?"

"Oh, no. There's much to miss at Hogwarts… such as the stairs, portraits, and corridors." Amos said, taking bigger strides as they walked around the lake.

"What about the teachers?" Lily prompted. "And all your friends? You might not see them again."

"I have faith that if they are meant to be my life-long friends, then they will be with out Hogwarts." Amos replied.

"So, you won't pursue friendships that you've made in your 7 years at Hogwarts?" Lily asked in amazement.

"Most likely not. This is only one chapter of my life. I must make room for others."

"I see." Lily replied. "But I'm surprised that you would walk away without looking back once."

"Oh, Lily! Don't get me wrong. I dearly cherish the people I have met. If _they_ pursue _me_, I shall oblige them." Amos said.

"But _you_ won't go after them?"

"Only a select few." Amos said. Lily felt him glance at her, but she didn't look at him. "But what about you? What do you hope to do when you leave Hogwarts?"

"I'm going to travel the world." Lily said happily.

"You're still on about that, are you?" Amos laughed.

"I'm going to, Amos! Don't laugh!" Lily said, chuckling herself. 

"If it was what you truly wanted, I'd pay for the trip myself, Lily." Amos said, grinning as a drop of sunlight peeked from behind a cloud.

"Then you'd better start saving up." Lily joked.

"Perhaps I should." Amos said. For a mere moment, she thought he was serious, but then he continued. "And after you've seen the world? Then what?"

"I don't know. I suppose I'll settle down somewhere…"

"With someone?"

"I… don't know." Lily said, beginning to feel uncomfortable for the first time. "I guess it depends."

"Depends on what, exactly?"

"I really don't feel like discussing my future right now, Amos." Lily sighed. "Anything but my future."

"All right then. I'll do anything for you, Lily, my dear." Amos replied. _My dear?_ "What do you want to talk about?"

"Look! Baby ducks!" Lily exclaimed, pointing to a group of ducklings swimming in the lake. Sadly, they took to the sky when the Lake's monster shook its tentacles at them.

"Ducks?" Amos asked, surprised.

"Yeah… there were ducks." Lily shrugged happily.

"Isn't that a little immature to be pointing out ducklings?" Amos asked. But then he broke into a rumbling laugh. It wasn't a crude laugh, and it made Lily smile at her own stupidity.

"Anyone up for a walk?" James asked, later that week. "Common… anyone?"

"I'll go." Lily volunteered. "Belle?"

"I'll… er, pass. Thanks." Belle said, glancing from James to Lily.

"Guess it's just us then?" James said.

"Guess so." Lily said, making a fist at Belle as they turned to leave the common room. Stupid Belle… she did that on purpose.

James and Lily didn't talk much on their way down to the grounds. 

"Where to, my lady? The lake, or the Quidditch field?" James asked.

"How about the lake, good sir?" Lily replied, playing along. "It's pretty outside now that the rain stopped, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess. But I like the rain." James said. "It's my favorite weather."

"I like the sun." Lily said in disagreement. "It's so much more friendly. If only it weren't so cold out still."

"Are you cold?" James asked quickly. "We could go back inside…"

"Er, no." Lily replied. "I'm fine. Unless _you_ want…"

"No. It's fine." James said uncomfortably.

"Right." Lily said.

"Hey, Check that out!" James said, crouching down by the lake water.

"At what?"

"Those ducklings… they're pretty cool…" James laughed.

"Ducks?"

"Yeah… ducks. What? Ducks _are_ cool…" James said, grinning.

"Of course they are." Lily said. _Amos didn't think so…_ "No, really. I'm serious."

"No you're not." James said, laughing again.

"Are you making fun of me?" Lily asked, smiling.

"No…" James said unconvincingly.

"Sure you're not." Lily said. "Meanie."

"I'm no meanie!" James cried. "I'm about as sweet and innocent as you could ever get!"

"You?!" Lily exclaimed. "I doubt you've _ever_ been innocent."

"Okay, so maybe not innocent…"

"That's what I thought." Lily chuckled.

"But you don't know that for a fact…" James said slyly.

"Yes I do." Lily replied.

"How?"

"Because I know you. And I know you're type. You're not innocent." Lily said. "You're always plotting some prank or revenge."

"Not always."

"Give one example of when you weren't." Lily prompted.

"Right now."

"So you're not thinking up some joke to play on the Slytherins at this very moment?" Lily asked, a little astonished.

"Nope." James said, shaking his head.

"Then what are you thinking?"

"I'm not thinking. Just living." James said. "You should know by now, _all_ the Marauders have a hard time thinking." 

At that moment, something in Lily clicked. James was just enjoying her company… not plotting against someone. He was having fun with Lily Evans. And, believe it or not, Lily was having fun with _him_. Talk about crazy…

**Chapter 20**

**Wormtail's Joke**

In the very beginning of April, Peter started to look at Lily in strange ways. She didn't know what exactly he was up to, but he seemed to find something terribly interesting about her, for he rarely took his eyes off of her. His smirks and glares followed her constantly around the common room, and gave her a very unwelcome feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Lily went to bed one night with an incredibly uneasy feeling. Peter had been watching her every move, much more than the other days.

She slept comfortably in her calm dormitory, but awoke suddenly very late at night. It had felt as though someone was touching her neck…she had felt someone's breath- hot and bated. She sat up nervously. Her bed hangings were open… 

"Hello? Is someone there?" She whispered into the silent darkness. Madison grunted in her sleep. No one was there except for three sleeping girls.

Suddenly, her crimson bed curtains swished although there was no wind, and the door clicked shut. 

Lily gulped, and returned to an uneasy slumber.

Lily woke up the next morning, still feeling a little jumpy from the night before. She approached the mirror to brush her hair before class, like she did every morning. But she noticed something was different about her reflection.

Her locket was gone.

The one possession she cared about… the only thing that proved to her that her parents had loved her at one point or another… was gone. Gone. 

"JAMES!" She screamed as she bolted down the steps. "James, what did you DO this time?!"

"What are you talking about?" James asked. "You look fine… you're hair isn't green or anything…"

"Not my _hair!_" Lily shouted. "My _locket!_ Where is it? What did you do with it!"

"Calm down, Lily." James warned. "We'll help you find it."

"_You_ took it! I know you did!" Lily yelled. A few Gryffindors looked at her nervously. "Now give it back!"

"Look, Lily, I don't know what locket you're talking about." James replied. "But we'll help you find it."

"That won't do any good, James." Peter hissed suddenly from the boys' dormitory steps.

"What do you mean 'it won't to any good'?" Lily repeated tensely. "Lupin took it, didn't he?! I'll _kill_ him!"

"No, my dear Lily." Peter said coolly. "Remus didn't touch your necklace."

"Tell me where it is, Petigrew!" Lily demanded.

"I won't tell you who did it or where it is, but you might want to try the forest." Peter said softly.

Lily didn't stop to think, but just ran. She bolted down the corridor as fast as her legs could carry her. She didn't have her wand, or anything that might protect her from the dangers within the Forbidden Forest on grounds, but she didn't care. She _had_ to get that locket back.

When she had reached the edge of the forest she thought she could hear people shouting after her to stop, to come back. But she didn't oblige them. Lily dove straight into the forest.

Even though it was early morning, the huge trees shielded all sunlight from touching the needle-covered floor. Rocks and roots were sprinkled all over, and in Lily's reckless rush, she nearly tripped over them. Lily could hear far away screeches of animals and magical creatures, but she ignored them as best she could. 

Her eyes frantically combed the dirt ground, but there was no sign of her necklace. Again, she heard someone calling her name. She sped up. She would not leave until her locket was safely hanging around her neck.

Then, out of nowhere, Lily heard a huge, blood-curdling shriek. She stopped dead in her tracks. She had no idea where it had come from, but it had sounded so close… she began to search the tiny clearing she was in.

Again, it screamed. Lily's insides squirmed. She had to hurry and find it before that… _thing_ got closer.

But she had spoken too soon. A gigantic cat-like creature pounced into the clearing, claws bared. Its inky-black hide glistened in the shadows, and it's pearly white teeth- no, jaws were at least two inches long. Its yellow eyes glimmered as it watched Lily hold her breath and debate running away.

Was it Lily's imagination, or did the horse-sized cat just grin evilly? Was the cat actually licking its horrible lips and deciding how to attack?

Lily took a fearful step back, and the cat prowled closer. Closer… Then, like a bolt of lighting, the thing pounced. Lily dove away from it quickly, but it only made the cat creature angrier. It hissed menacingly, and pounced again.

This time, its aim was true, and Lily was pinned against a tree. The cat's breathing was slow and steady. Its teeth were centimeters from Lily's face. 

She kicked the thing as hard as she could, and it sunk to all fours. It screamed again, and Lily tried to run.

Unfortunately, the cat was quicker, and snatched her leg with its long claws. Instant pain flooded through Lily as she fell to the floor and the cat bit her ceremoniously. It felt as though the cat were jabbing white-hot knifes into her leg… acid rushing though her cut… 

It was head-splitting pain such as Lily had never felt. The cat bit again… more pain… Lily did her best to crawl away… but got no farther than a few inches. 

As Lily's eyes began to fog over, she could hear fast crunching on the leaves, and the cat's scream. Lily struggled to breath… tried to get up, but found it impossible. She gave up to the poison and passed out as cold as death itself. 


	9. Incorrect Accusation & Microscopic Apolo...

_One more chapter after this… _

**Chapter 21**

**Incorrect Accusation**

Someone was touching her hand… her head was sinking in fluffy pillows… thick blankets were covering her… a sad and worried sniff from somewhere else… something cold on her right leg…

Lily unwillingly opened her eyes. She was in the hospital wing in a bed. Amos Diggory was stroking her hand nervously. James was sitting on the floor, resting his head on the bottom of Lily's bed, fast asleep. Sirius and Belle were sitting in a large chair. Belle was leaning on Sirius' shoulder, crying softly. Remus was pacing quickly back and forth… and Snape was standing in the shadows, obviously debating why he was there in the first place…

"Thank God! She's awake!" Amos shouted happily. There was a huge scramble to get to Lily's bedside; Sirius stood up so fast, Belle actually fell down.

Now that the room knew she was awake, she pulled her hand away from Amos' and kicked James in the head.

"Ow! Pain… misfortune…" He moaned playfully, sitting back on his heels, rubbing his forehead. "Lily! You're awake!"

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Lily replied coldly. "You took my necklace, why won't you just admit it? It's all your fault I went into that forest and came out with a splitting headache… and my leg…"

"I… er, think I'll just go…" James muttered. "I'm glad you're awake Lily…" And he left, grabbing his bag, and shoving past Siverus to get through the door.

"Well!" Belle exclaimed awkwardly. Lily was fuming. "Er, classes! Two minutes, everyone!" And Belle tried to shepherd everyone out of the room.

"One moment…" Amos said. "I'm very pleased to see you are well again. We've all been so worried." And he kissed her on the head, and left. 

Siverus left without a word or gesture. 

Remus smiled at her, and it warmed her insides. But Sirius stayed. 

"Hadn't you better get to classes too?" Lily suggested.

"Not until we've talked." Sirius replied. He seemed very serious, which was a surprise.

"Where was Madison? What's today? Wednesday?" Lily asked.

"Madison… er, didn't want to come. She claimed she didn't want to see you so helpless. Today is _not_ Wednesday… you've been knocked out cold for two weeks. Today is Friday."

"Oh… wow. Time flies when you're sleeping!" Lily said, trying to get Sirius to laugh, or at least say something funny back.

"Yeah. But not for the people waiting for you to wake up." Sirius muttered. "You know, Lily, James has been here every single day for the past two weeks. Before school? He's here. After and between classes? Yeah, he's still here. He's been kicked out of the hospital wing so many times you wouldn't believe it. Two nights ago, he came straggling back into the common room after midnight. He's been waiting for you Lily."

"James? In here waiting for me?" Lily repeated, astonished.

"That's right." Sirius said. "And that's not even the half of it."

"What's the other half?" Lily asked, dreading the answer.

"Well, first of all, _Peter_ took your locket. Thought it would be funny, and would make James respect him a little more. Couldn't have been more wrong. You should have seen it: I've never heard James yell like that before." Sirius replied. "And if that's not enough, he went in after you."

"No he didn't." Lily said. "He wouldn't do something that brainless…"

"That's what Peter thought. 'No James… don't! Let her stay in there for a while! She'll come out!' Good thing he didn't listen." Sirius said solemnly.

"You gave us all a huge scare." Sirius said. "When James came out of the forest carrying you… you were limp and your leg was bleeding horribly… we thought you'd died."

"I almost did." Lily whispered. "And James saved me?"

"Yeah! I don't know what he did, but when he came out, his arm was bleeding. He wouldn't let Madam Pomfry touch him until she'd taken care of you. Scared us all. Especially Belle." Sirius explained. "And you just accused him of stealing your _stupid_ locket."

"I didn't know." Lily sighed. "My locket didn't seem so stupid until just this moment."

"Well, Remus thought it meant some horribly great deal to you." Sirius said. "He went out and bought you a new one… it's there on the table."

"Oh my God…" Lily whispered as she picked up the silver locket. Engraved on it was a lily. "Oh God…"

"Yeah, 'oh God.'" Sirius said. "Remus had a pretty good yell too. He actually swore! Jesus, he was hollering at Peter about being an in-genuine person. Apparently, Peter wanted to know why you were upset that night my marshmallow died, so Remus told him. Thought he could trust him." At first, Lily thought this was a joke… but Sirius wasn't laughing.

"I feel like such an idiot!" Lily exclaimed.

"No, don't." Sirius said sympathetically. "It wasn't your fault. You didn't know."

"I just feel so bad…" Lily sighed. "He just saved my life, and I accused him of ruining it."

"Like I said, you didn't know." Sirius replied. He stood up and headed to the door. "But don't tell me… tell James." He raised his eyebrows- a very Sirius Farewell- and left Lily alone.

**Chapter 22**

**The Microscopic Apology **

  The next day, Lily was still confined to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfry refused to let her leave until she was absolutely certain Lily's leg was free of cat-poison. Lily wanted nothing more than to escape to talk to James, but the idea seemed impossible.

Madison came to visit Lily later that afternoon. She filled the room with such a sense of fake worry, it almost made Lily choke. 

"I've been so worried about you, Lily!" Madison moaned. "I thought for the longest time you were dead. I just couldn't bring myself to visit you!"

"That's what Sirius told me." Lily replied. When she was honest with herself, she felt bad that Madison wasn't a little more concerned about her health and safety… but maybe she was just being paranoid and Madison really did care.

When Lily's leg was as good as new, Madam Pomfry had no choice but to let Lily leave the stuffy hospital wing. 

So Lily gathered up the get-well cards and candies that her friends had left for her, and she departed for the Gryffindor common room.

When she got there, she found it astonishing that more than half the Gryffindors were all compacted into the common room with books open on their laps, and quills in their hands. Then Lily remembered that exams were coming up soon, and everyone was busy studying.

Lily maneuvered around a table of fourth years, and dodged a table of rowdy seventh years before she could even reach her dormitory steps. 

After she dropped off her things, she braved the common room again, hoping to find James to apologize. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found. 

The next day, Lily had to return to classes. She, Belle, and Madison trudged down the dungeon steps to Potions. To their disgust, none other than Lucius and Siverus met them.

"Siverus tells me you're doing well, Lily." Lucius replied coolly. "I'm glad to hear it… so very glad."

"Come off it, Malfoy." Belle snapped. "You don't _really_ care. If you did, you would have come to visit her."

"I assure you, Miss Arabella, had I had the chance, I most certainly would have." Lucius contradicted.

"Real friends find time." Belle replied hotly. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have to get to class."

"Arabella! I suggest you learn to control that temper of yours." Lucius smiled. 

"Burn in Hell, Malfoy." Belle replied, as she shoved past him. "And call me Arabella again, and I swear, I _will_ kill you."

Lily sat next to Belle at one of the workbenches, and watched as the students filed into the classroom. A group of Slytherins… Gryffindor… Gryffindor… and:

"Belle, there they are…" Lily whispered.

"Who? The Marauders?" Belle asked. "Ew! Look, there are mice!" Belle squealed, pointing to a cage of white-as-snow mice on their worktable. 

"Yes the Marauders, stupid." Lily snapped, waving aside the mice that were squeaking frantically in their cage. "I have to talk to James."

"Ooooh! Sirius told you, then, didn't he?" Belle replied in understanding.

"Yes." Lily sighed. "And I'm so humiliated."

"What? That he saved you?"

"No! That I accused him of… stealing my necklace."

"That's really not that big of a deal, Lil." Belle said. "See? He really doesn't seem to care much, does he?"

"I guess not…"

"But you would feel better after apologizing, wouldn't you?" Belle asked. "So go sit with him…"

"No… no, that's okay." Lily replied quickly. "That's all I need: The Slytherins thinking I fancy James…"

"Well, do you?"

"No! Don't be thick!" Lily replied. "That's just disgusting. Besides, you were the one who thought they were cute…"

"That was _before_ I got to know them." Belle defended. "And they still kind of are…"

"You're attention, please!" Professor Walter exclaimed. "Today we will be working on the shrinking potion. Can someone explain to us what it means to 'shrink'?"

Immediately, Madison's hand shot into the air, closely followed by Lucius'. 

"To shrink," Madison said intelligently, "is to get smaller, or to reduce in size. The word can also be used in a cowardly sense, such as: My dog shrank at the sight of me." Madison finished, matter-of-factly. Lily noticed she glanced at Sirius, who was yawning.

"Precisely. Although, the only definition necessary today will be 'to reduce in size'." The professor replied. "As you will notice, there are cages of mice on your desks. Today, I want each one of you to successfully shrink a mouse to a smaller size. Yes, Miss. Burrows?"

"Do we have to actually _touch_ the mice?" Tammy Burrows asked nervously as some people chuckled.

"No, Burrows, you don't have to touch them." Professor Walter said in a frustrated tone. "All you need to do is concoct your potion as seen on page 277 in your textbook, and pour it over the cage, all right?" Walter said. "You may begin. Don't be afraid to ask me if you have any questions- you may need to know the answer in a few weeks…"

Lily cracked open her textbook, and began to unpack her potion ingredients. She gently placed her pewter cauldron on the desk.

"Belle, I'm all out of Wolfsbane… we'll need to use yours, okay?" Lily replied, examining her empty bottle with distaste.

"Uh, yeah… sure…" Belle said, going through her bag for the ingredient. "Except, I'm all out as well! I guess it'll have to do without." Belle sighed, dumping in three beetle eyes. "Maybe if we add an extra boomslang skin, it'll make up for it… what do you think?"

"I don't know… we can't afford to fail this. The professor hinted this might come up on the exams…" Lily said. "Hopefully we can go to Hogsmeade before then."

"Yeah. But until then, I'm using boomslang skin."

"If it blows up in our faces, it's not my fault." Lily said. 

"You got yourself a deal." Belle chuckled, tipping an extra two cups of boomslang snakeskin. "I just hope I don't kill the mice…"

"Now, we need 2 more teaspoons of beetle's eyes." Lily read from the book. "Here we go…" She said as she tapped the spoon on the edge of the cauldron. 

"… 3 cups chopped aconite… and 6.4 cups dragon claw…" Belle said softly, pouring the root and powder into their mixture.

"… Heat at 730 degrees for five minutes…" Lily said. "And we'll be finished."

"Great." Belle said, as she magically lit the burner beneath their cauldron. "Wait a minute… I've just remembered! Wolfsbane and aconite is the exact same thing!"

"Also known as Monkshood." Lily muttered angrily. "How could we have forgotten?!" 

"Too late now…" Belle moaned. "Oh well."

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion and a huge, puffy cloud of purple smoke that engrossed the left corner of the room. Students moved in a flock away from the stench of rotting fish.

"Ugh! That's disgusting!" Lily said queasily, pinching her nose. 

"Mr. McBratney!" Professor Walter exclaimed. "What did you do?!"

"I… nothing, sir!" Marcus McBratney shouted as his cauldron began to sputter bright purple liquid all over the room like a sprinkler. "I just put in the powdered dragon claw like the book said and…"

"And how much did you add? Did you put in the exact amount specified? 6.4? That's what I thought, Mr. McBratney. I suggest you pay closer attention to the instructions next time, hm?" Walter said, as the purple cloud grew ever larger.

Without warning, a huge wave of the purple potion splashed on Lucius. He immediately began to shrink… smaller and smaller…

"Help me!" He squeaked. The class burst into laughter.

"Malfoy!" James hollered in sarcastic fear. "What's happening to you?" He asked poking the two inch-high Lucius.

"Mr. Potter, step away, please!" Walter shouted over the commotion. Then, another Slytherin was hit with the potion and he too began to shrink.

"Oh God!" Walter exclaimed. "Everyone outside!"

There was a huge rush towards the door. People pushed and shoved to get away- no one wanted to be reduced to the size of a bug.

"James!" Lily shouted at his retreating back. She finally had the chance to talk to him- it was now or never.

"I got him! Look!" James said, showing Lily his cupped hands. The tiny Lucius was standing there pointing rudely at James. "I want to flush him down the toilet, what do you think?"

Lily laughed. "Brilliant!" Lucius glared up at her. "Listen, James… about what I said in the hospital wing…"

"Lily, you didn't know what happened. You were zonked out anyway." James shrugged. 

"Well, I felt horrible. You risked your life to save me… and I think that was very, er… good of you." Lily said. "You could have just left me to die in there. But-"

"Look, I told you to forget it." James said. "What are friends for?"

"Well, thank you." Lily said. "Common, let's go toss this guy in the lake." She suggested pointing at Lucius.

"Sounds good." James replied. "But I was thinking we could flush him down the toilet…"

**Chapter 23**

**Hogwarts Exams**

Before Lily could catch her breath, June was upon her. The weather became hot, and muggy, and all anyone wanted to do was get outside with a huge glass of pumpkin juice. The grounds had never looked quiet so inviting, but no one was able to leave the school. With exams less than a week away, studying was crucial- especially if Lily was planning to be Head Girl.

Every night before bed, Lily could be seen hovering over books, reading up on the Troll Battles of 1602 or how to make a pineapple tap dance across a desk. 

Even though Sirius would beg him not to, James could also be found taking trips to the library every night. He apparently wouldn't let anything get in the way of becoming Head Boy. Lily couldn't help but admire his ambition.

Too soon, all study time was up. Lily trudged down to breakfast on Monday morning with butterflies in her stomach, and circles under her eyes. She could barely eat. These tests were incredibly important. They practically decided what her future would hold. Being Head Girl meant everything to Lily, and without top scores, it would only be a dream. This was her one shot… her only chance to make a person see that she wasn't some stupid muggle who goes running blindly into dangerous forests. She was an intelligent witch, and she was determined to prove it.

"Feet, don't fail me now…" She whispered as the first bell sounded through the corridors. Slowly, but surely, she managed to reach the dungeons for her potions exam.

Just as Lily had suspected, the students had to make a quality-shrinking potion and successfully reduce a toad to the size of a thumbnail. 

Lily was very pleased with the outcome of her toad. With hardly any trouble, her toad had slowly slipped from its original size and became as small as was specified.

Next was a relieving lunch, and then it was off to Charms class for a test on cleaning with wands.

Lily easily dusted an entire shelf without difficulty. In fact, for extra points, she washed all the desks in the classroom with a flick of her wrist. She assumed she passed that test with flying colors.

When that was done, it was straight to the dormitories to study for Astronomy. So at midnight, the Gryffindor sixth years stumbled up to the north tower for class.

Lily correctly identified the 20 constellations the professor indicated. James seemed to have some real troubles with this test, and Lily couldn't help but feel bad for him.

The next morning, it was straight to Muggle Music. Lily had to play one piece they had learned that year without a flaw to pass. Lily did this magnificently, and was in high spirits when lunch rolled around.

But then it was off to Defense Against the Dark Arts: Lily's least favorite class- other than potions of course.

"God, I'm going to fail this." Madison moaned as she tossed her bag on the desk. "I totally don't get this class."

"All right class. Straight to it." Professor Gilbert said. "Now, before we begin, I'm sorry to report, I will be unable to return to Hogwarts next year. I have been summoned by the Ministry of Magic to serve on the jury for a while, and I must oblige them. So: Unforgivable Curses. Brace yourselves…" He said, his eyes gleaming as he passed the written tests out. "Well, what are you waiting for? Begin!"

"Oh great…" Lily commented to herself softly. _"Explain the _Avada Kedavra_ curse. What does it mean, and how can you defend yourself from it?"_

The _Avada Kedavra_ curse is also known as the killing curse. It can be identified by the bright green light that is seen when it's spoken. There is no way to defend your self from this curse, so it is best to avoid situations where it could be used.

_"What occurs during the Cutacious Curse and what is the incantation?"_

To perform the Cutacious Curse, one must speak the word _Crucio._ If this curse is said, then the one it is aimed at will experience excruciating pain. Again, it is best to avoid situations where this curse could be used.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar song from Sirius broke the concentrated silence.

 "_I like big butts and I can not lie. You other brothers can't deny, when a girl walks in…._er, Crucio…._ With an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face you get…._ Unavoidable pain…._ Sprung." _Heads turned to look at him, but he continued as though this didn't bother him at all. "_Oh baby, I wanna get with ya… and take your pictcha'… my home-boys try to warn me, with that butt you got me… _all controlling…._ Me so horny… boom wit dat smooth skin you say you wanna get in my bends? Well, use me, use me, cuz you ain't that average groupie!"_

"Sirius Black." Gilbert replied sternly. He walked over to Sirius's desk and watched him without interest.

"_Cuz my anaconda, don't want none unless you got buns, hun!_ Yes sir?" Sirius finished. At this point the entire class was staring at his would-be innocent face. 

"Two detentions for that… display." The professor said. "Please, continue your test in silence."

Sirius then pushed something off his desk with his elbow, and there was a clatter on the floor. Professor Gilbert looked down at the floor to see what Sirius dropped, and the whole class craned their necks to see what he was looking at. Sirius looked at the professor meaningfully. 

"Mr. Black?"

Sirius gave a big fake cough and motioned to what was on the floor. "Pick it up—cough! It looks like someone got a visit from the Knut-fairy!" But when the professor didn't catch is drift, Sirius elaborated in a very audible whisper. "A Knut says I _don't_ have a detention…"

"Mr. Black! If you think that you can _bribe _your way out of your detentions, you've got another thing coming! That will be three _more detentions!_" 

"Yes, sir." Sirius said. Then he looked around the room at his classmates. "What? It's a good song…"

But everyone saw that Professor Gilbert scooped up Sirius's Knut and slipped it in his pocket.

As Lily shook her head and began to look back at her test, her eyes fell on James. But he wasn't chuckling like the rest of the students. In fact, he was still bent over his test, trying to focus as best he could. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and glanced up at Lily.

She quickly turned back to her paper, and tried to regain whatever concentration was left in her brain to finish this exam. But the only thing pulsing through her mind was _Head girl… if you pass you'll be Head Girl… fail, and you're finished…_


	10. Final Feast & Summary for sequel

**Chapter 24**

**Final Feast**

A week or two later, Lily and her friends were sitting around the breakfast table, waiting anxiously for the exam results. It was the last day at Hogwarts, and soon they would be free for the whole summer. A summer without magic… without Hogwarts… without friends… it sounded like Hell to Lily.

"And here you are, Mr. Potter… Ms. Evans… Mr. Black…" McGonagall read, handing them envelopes. As she passed, Sirius pinched her butt. "Black! Detention!" She howled.

"Last day… ha! You can't do anything! Besides, you know you liked it…" Sirius winked. Belle laughed as McGonagall left their group in a hurry.

"Well, guys. This is it." Remus said softly. "Open them, on three?"

"Let's make it five." Lily moaned nervously. 

"One… two… three… four… five!" Madison chanted, and they each ripped open their envelopes that contained their scores.

"Oh, score!" Sirius cheered. "I actually passed!"

"Good for you…" Madison said sarcastically. "Look at this score for Transfiguration!" She exclaimed angrily, shoving the paper under Belle's nose. 

"Apparently, your daisy still had feathers…"

"Shut up." Madison groaned. "What about you, Lily? How'd you do?"

Lily was it total shock. "I… did great. Look…" She said with bated breath.

"Oh my gosh! Lil! You got, like, 183 percent! I'm so proud of you! Congratulations!" Belle cheered, throwing her arms around Lily's neck. "You'll surely get Head Girl, now!"

"You really think so?" Lily said, her excitement rising. "How about you, James? What do your scores look like?"

"Pretty good. Have a look." James said, handing her his card. 

"James! This is great…" Belle said, looking over Lily's shoulder. "_179_ percent! I think we've got some brains over here, as well…"

"Great job, James." Lily smiled, as she handed him his card back.

"Thanks." He replied happily. "And Mooney?"

"I passed everything. But Divination was a little fuzzy…" He said forlornly. 

"That's okay." Sirius said. "I'm pretty sure Trelawny's more psycho than psychic. I _really_ failed that class."

"How? All you had to do was make stuff up!" James exclaimed. "Anyway, how about you, Belle?"

"I totally passed. Well, okay, so I flunked potions. But that was only because I ran out of powdered dragon's claw…"

"Sure…" Madison joked. "I just can't wait until tonight!"

Lily and the Marauders slowly made their way down the steps. The final Hogwarts feast. Lily had been dreading this for a while. What if she didn't make Head Girl? Not only that, but all the Prefects had helped put this dinner on- except her. All the planning meetings had taken place when she was in the hospital wing with her hurt leg.

The Grand Hall was colored in entirely in yellow and black- Hufflepuff colors. Gryffindor had lost the House Cup. Lily supposed that having Quidditch stars in your house didn't quiet measure up to having innocent people. At least Slytherin didn't win…

"Another year, come and gone." Dumbledore announced when everyone was seated. "I am very pleased to say that this year, the House Cup is awarded to Hufflepuff- as the decorations might have suggested. I'm sorry to say that I will not see some of you next year…" He replied, his piercing blue eyes looking over the seventh years. "… Although I'm quiet sure you will be pleased to be leaving school. But for now, we eat!" Dumbledore said happily.

When all the food had been devoured, Dumbledore rose again and tapped his goblet. "And now, for the Head Boy and Head Girl announcement. I am most pleased to say, that our Head Boy for next year will be Mr. James Potter." 

There was an eruption of applause as a stunned James teetered his way up to the teachers' table to receive his badge.

"And, next year's Head Girl is someone who has progressed magnificently over these past six years. I'm most pleased to say, that Head Girl will be Miss. Lily Evans." 

At first, Lily didn't think she'd heard correctly. All sound was gone; she could only see her friend's happy faces urging her to get up. Finally, feeling returned to her legs and she tried to approach the teachers. Her legs felt like jelly and her smile was from ear to ear. 

Once she reached the teachers, McGonagall proudly pinned on the Head Girl badge onto Lily's robes. 

"Thank you." Lily muttered. But her lips were dry and wouldn't work out of shock. This had to be one of the happiest moments of her life.

And James' grin only made her smile grow. He looked so proud to be standing there. 

"We did it…" He whispered as Sirius continued to cheer loudly, stamping his feet on the tile floor. 

"Yeah." Was the only thing Lily could manage to murmur.

The next morning, Lily woke in a daze. She could only remember bits and pieces of the night before. She was the next Head Girl… that was all that mattered.

She reluctantly got out of bed and got dressed. 

Lily, the Marauders, Belle, and Madison walked to the Entrance Hall to catch a coach to the Hogsmeade train station.

"Bye Hogwarts… see ya next year…" Sirius said, gazing out the window as the train pulled out of the station.

"I thought you were glad to be leaving." Peter said.

"Oh, I am." Sirius said. "But one year is never the same as the last… and something tells me next year is going to be very different." He replied, glancing at James and Lily.

"What makes you say that?" Lily asked. 

"We've got two Heads with us now." Sirius said. "How do we know you two won't bust us?"

"Are you kidding?" James replied. "I'll be breaking the rules with you, you prat."

"Oh. Okay then!" Sirius said happily.

"You know, my sister's getting married this summer…" Lily said. 

"Are you inviting us?" Remus asked. 

"Well, if you all want to come…" Lily said. "I mean, you don't have to, or anything. I mean, it's going to be a little boring… but-"

"We'll come." Belle said. "Just write us when."

"Okay. Great." Lily smiled. A wave of relief flooded through her. She knew that wedding would be awkward, but at least now her friends would be with her. 

Lily found her fingers were gently resting on her new locket. Remus smiled at her and she returned it. 

Whatever the next year would hold, Lily was ready. As long as she had friends like the Marauders, she felt as thought she would be ready for anything. She didn't have to pretend around them. She could be herself when she was with them. Just Lily.

**_The End_**

****

****

_OR IS IT??_

_Believe it or not—there's a sequel! That's right, Lily's seventh and final year at Hogwarts! Keep in mind, that this also was written long before the fifth book came out.    _

_Interested? Read on…._

_Lily Evans and the Hidden Crystal of Hogwarts_

_The Sorcerer's Stone wasn't the only stone hidden in Hogwarts. Believe it or not, it once housed the secret Rialle stone, better known as the Hidden Crystal. Its powers are insurmountable and amazing. But someone wants it for their own twisted purposes, and that someone is the most twisted of them all. The Dark Lord Voldemort is emerging and is causing destruction everywhere. Worse still, he is gathering supporters fast. He wants the Crystal, and all it's powers. He must be stopped._

_The Ministry is in an uproar, and Lily Evans is doing her best to keep her head down and avoid trouble… YEAH RIGHT! As if that's humanly possible when you're best friends with the marauders. Lily and her friends are desperately trying to solve this mystery and stop this madman, before things get worse. And if things couldn't be more complicated, there is something about James that neither he nor his friends ever knew, and this secret could put James in grave danger. _

_And besides all this, Lily is in emotional turmoil. She's starting to see James in a completely different light—sometimes, anyway. Is it possible that he's not the arrogant balloon-head she had originally thought? _

_But whatever the case, Lily must team up with the marauders once again to save all humanity. If they fail to put their feelings aside and save the Crystal from the clutches of… you-know-who, he will claim the Crystal, their lives, and the universe as the most powerful sorcerer of all time._

_Be on the lookout for this exciting installment (with an equally exciting epilogue at the end), which will be posted soon. _


End file.
